Longtime Friends- Pokémon
by Idon'tusespacesinusernames
Summary: Hey! This is a new story that I'm writing. Quick summery: Ash loses the Unova league and decides to take a break. He goes to Kalos to see Serena, his childhood friend. AND THAT'S ALL I'M GOING TO GIVE AWAY! Read the story and you'll find out more.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys! It's time for another new story. I made that sound like it's a chore writing... I should make this sound more stupid- SCHOOL IS LAME, AM I RIGHT? Why did I say that? Well, it's exam season, at least in the UK, so I'm going to be stressing out for a little while. I'm just telling you this in case I don't post for a while. Anyway, without further or do, the information for this story is in the description so you can look at that if you want to. But, anyway, let's get to the chapter!**

* * *

Ash sighed, walking over to his Pikachu; his fainted Pokemon. He was battling in the Unova league, the fifth league he was attempting to win. However, he had just lost his battle against his rival, Trip.

"Pikachu is unable to battle! Trip is the winner!" The voice boomed throughout the stadium, causing the crowd to become a mix of people cheering and booing.

Ash walked over to Trip, cradling his Pikachu in his arm, leaving one outstretched, expecting a handshake, therefore, he was confused and annoyed when Trip merely turned around and walked out of the stadium.

Sighing again, Ash turned around and walked over to his side of the stadium again, leaving through his side, as, for some reason, there was a rule stating you had to do that.

"That was a close battle, Ash!"

Ash looked to the side, watching as his two travelling companions ran up to him; Iris and Cilan.

"You made it so far, too!" Cilan exclaimed, placing a hand on Ash's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

Ash shrugged, leaning back against a bench, watching as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and onto the top of the bench.

"Yeah, I know," Ash muttered, honestly not caring too much. He had lost the previous four leagues as well, therefore, he was used to the losses.

"What are you going to do now?" Iris asked him, to which Ash shrugged.

I think I'm going to take a little break," Ash said, shocking the group, including Pikachu.

"What? Why?" Cilan asked him, slightly taken aback.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, reciprocating Cilan's questions.

"Well, I've been at it for a while. Five whole regions, forty gym-badges. I haven't taken a single break in between," Ash told them, to which they nodded, understanding his point.

"Well, I'm guessing you're going to go back to Kanto?" Cilan asked him, to which Ash nodded. "When?"

"Tomorrow," Ash told them, again, shocking them.

"Why so soon?" Iris asked him, starting to wonder about whether or not Ash was starting to give up on his dream.

As if Ash was reading her thoughts, he immediately shook his head.

"I'm not losing any enthusiasm for Pokemon-battling, by the way. I just need a break for a little while," Ash told her, also addressing Cilan, giving him a little nod while he spoke, knowing that Cilan was thinking the same thing.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, then," Cilan muttered, looking behind him towards the train station.

"What do you mean?" Iris asked him, looking confused.

"I need to go back to Straiton City," Cilan said, looking between Ash and Iris.

"Well, now that you've said that, I need to go back to the Village of Dragons, so I'd better take the train to Opolucid," Iris said, looking over to the train station.

Ash straightened himself up from leaning against the bench, straightening his sleeves and re-adjusting his gloves.

"We'll stay in contact, right?" Ash asked the two, starting to worry about whether he would see his two Unavon friends again.

"Of course," They both said in unison, nodding before Cilan held out his hand towards Ash.

Ash grabbed his hand, giving him a handshake and a hug to say goodbye before doing the same with Iris.

"We'll see you soon, Ash!" Iris said before turning around and running over to the train station, Cilan giving him a quick nod before he followed her.

Feeling a vibration in his pocket, Ash pulled out his phone, seeing that he had a few texts.

Ash took a quick glance over them, seeing that most of them were from his friends who saw the match, and were congratulating him on how far he got before his loss.

A few of the texts were from his past travelling companions, Brock, Dawn, Max and Misty, with the others from two other people, his mother and his childhood friend.

Ash read them properly, noticing that they all had the exact same progression: Congratulating him on how far he got, pitying him for his loss, saying something else about how long it's been since they last talked in person, and then finally saying that it would be nice if they met up soon to catch up.

However, only two texts stood out to Ash, the ones from his mother and his childhood friend.

Ash opened his mother's text, noticing that Pikachu was glancing at Ash and the phone from the bench, curious as to what it said.

Ash looked over at Pikachu, smirking a bit before reading it out loud to the yellow Pokemon.

"Hey, honey! I'm so proud of how far you got, and I'm so sorry that you lost. There's always next time! Tell me when you're coming back. I expect that you're going to go off to another region straight away. It would be nice if you could stay back for a while!"

"It's like she read my mind," Ash told Pikachu.

Pikachu nodded, jumping up onto Ash's shoulder, laughing lightly.

Ash opened up the other text, reading it out loud for Pikachu.

"Hey, Ash! I'm so proud of you! You came so far since you helped me that day. I'll never forget that, by the way. I'm sorry you lost, but I think it's for the better. Losses make you stronger! Plus, you probably would have died if you ended up going against the girl with the Lugia. Sorry, but it's true! If you want, come to Kalos to see me! I've heard the league is decent, so if you want a challenge, you'll be given one! I'll talk to you later, and you should tell me if you're coming."

Ash smiled reading that. Trust Serena to say that he would have lost anyway. However, she did have a point. That girl with the Lugia swept through her opponents, so he might of actually dies if he went up against her.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked Ash, looking at the text.

"Yeah, let's go to Kalos and see her," Ash told Pikachu who nodded, agreeing with Ash's choice.

Ash slid his phone back into his pocket before pulling out a Pokeball, throwing it and sending out his Unfezant.

"Take us to the airport," Ash told his Pokemon, throwing himself onto her back, Pikachu jumping onto Ash's shoulder.

Unfezant nodded before taking off, flying as fast as she could towards the airport with Ash and Pikachu clinging to her.

* * *

They landed at the airport. Ash thanked his Unfezant, returning her to her Pokeball before entering the airport, buying a ticket to Kanto, waiting for the plane, and eventually getting on the plane.

* * *

 **There we go! The first chapter is finally released! Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter, although you probably figured that out by now. I don't know why I always write that at the start of each chapter, but I do, so I guess that's something you could shout at me for. I don't even know why I said that. Let's just get to the chapter!**

* * *

The plane journey was long and tiring. Ash sat next to the window, pushed up against it by the enormous person who decided to park their backside next to him. Either it was bad luck, or a bad sign, or a random ass occurrence that decided it wanted to occur at this random time.

When the plane landed, and when Ash was finally given fresh air to breathe, the first thing Ash and Pikachu did was run out of the plane and into the open air of the Kanto region, his home region.

Ash ended up having to explain to Pikachu why they went to Kanto first, and that was because he wanted to talk to his mother first and because Kanto is closer to Kalos than Unova is, so it practically cuts the time on the plane in half.

As Ash and Pikachu arrived at Ash's mother's house, they were immediately greeted with a bone-crushing hug from Delia, Ash's mother.

"I'm so proud of you for making it to the top eight, Ash!" Delia exclaimed before realising that she was suffocating her son.

Letting go of him, Delia looked at him and smiled before petting Pikachu and walking into the lounge, taking a seat and watching as Ash followed.

"How long are you staying here, Ash?" Delia asked him with a sigh, knowing that it wouldn't be for longer than a week.

"Well, I'm taking a break for a while, so I might stay for a few weeks," Ash told her, shocking his mother but making her smile.

"Where will you go afterwards?" She asked her son who looked at Pikachu who nodded, confusing Delia.

"I'll be going to Kalos, but for a holiday before I do the gyms and the league," Ash told her, to which she leant back and smirked.

"Isn't that the region that the girl moved to? What was her name again? Sophie?" She asked, watching as Ash facepalmed lightly.

"Serena, Mum. Her name is Serena."

"Oh," Delia muttered, thinking for a second. "Why are you going to see her again? She was just a girl that you talked to for a bit after you helped her. She hasn't done anything for you, so I don't think she appreciates it."

"Mum!" Ash exclaimed, shocked at what she said. "She's my friend, that's why I'm going to see her. And I don't care that she hasn't done anything to repay me. We only knew each other for a week before she left for Kalos, so she didn't get a chance. Anyway, what I did wasn't a big deal. I just stumbled upon her in the forest when I was chasing a Poliwag!"

Delia sighed. "Sorry, I just don't want you to have to go through what happened again," She said quietly, making Ash go quiet, remembering what happened between him and one of his friends not too long before he left for his journey.

Delia got up from her seat, heading into the kitchen to make a coffee.

Ash stood up, telling Pikachu and his mother that he was going to go upstairs and rest for a bit after the journey, and, due to the jetlag, Ash was tired.

Pikachu nodded, running into the kitchen to get some food while Ash walked upstairs.

What Ash told them was a lie. While he was tired, that wasn't the reason why he decided to retreat to his bedroom. The real reason was that he was reminded of what happened not too long ago.

Ash lay down on his bed, picking up a picture from his bedside table. Looking at the picture, Ash was reminded of the memories, including the bad one.

The picture was him, Serena, his friend and the other kids who were in Professor Oaks summer camp. A place he attended one summer when he was eight.

Ash looked at the younger Serena for a few seconds, smiling a bit before his eyes drifted over to his friend, Gary.

Gary was a competitive person. Someone that you could talk to easy. Someone that was easy to get along with provided that you didn't beat him in a battle, or any game for that matter. However, Gary had some feelings for Ash that he didn't reciprocate, and, as a result, their friendship drifted apart.

Ash had been scared to make too many friends after that happened, as he didn't want the same thing to happen. While friendships can be continued after something as awkward as being rejected by them, Gary was so embarrassed about coming out as homosexual and then getting rejected by his crush and best friend, that he disappeared. No one knew where he went until his body was found in the forest. He hadn't killed himself, but he had gone out on a walk late at night to try and think about what to do, when a couple of criminals jumped him, stole his money, and left him lying on the forest floor, bleeding with no way to contact anyone.

After Ash found out about what happened, he was scared that the same might happen. He had never been the luckiest person, so if anything similar happened, it would most likely convince Ash that he was cursed.

Sighing, Ash placed the picture back on the table and rested his head on his pillow, closing his eyes and attempting to get some sleep.

* * *

Two weeks later, Ash walked out of the plane. He had arrived in Kalos.

As soon as Ash and Pikachu were out of the airport, they headed for the nearest hotel, booking a room before heading up to it. Ash and Pikachu's room was on the second-to-last floor, so they realised that if the lift (British for an elevator) ended up going out of order sometime soon, they would have a tough time getting to their room.

Unlocking the door, Ash saw that the room was decently sized with a main room containing the bed, T.V and the door to the balcony, with the bathroom door next to the door to get in.

Ash walked forwards, closing the door behind him before hopping onto the bed.

"So, Pikachu. How do you like Kalos so far?" Ash asked Pikachu like he normally did when they arrived in a region they hadn't been in before.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed with a thumbs up, showing that he liked it so far.

As Ash put his head to the pillow, he pulled out his phone, sending Serena a text to tell her that he had landed in Kalos and was in a hotel in Lumiose.

Serena sent a text back talking about how excited she was that they would be able to see each other again, reminding Ash of how much he'd craved these next few days over the past two or three years.

As this was going on, a strange noise erupted throughout Lumiose city.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked Ash, who glanced at him before putting his phone down on the side.

"You heard that too?" Ash asked him, getting up from the bed and walking out of the door that led to the balcony, Pikachu following.

The only thing they could see beyond the building opposite was a Garchomp zooming towards Prism Tower, Lumiose City's landmark.

* * *

 **There we go! Another chapter! I think you all can guess what's going to happen next, but I'm not going to tell you in case there's one or two of you that can't figure it out. I wouldn't want to ruin the possible surprise. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter. Again, like the last time, I still don't know why I write that at the start of every chapter, but I do. Anyway, I have nothing else to say, so let's get to the chapter!**

* * *

"What is going on!?" Ash exclaimed, Pikachu clinging to his shoulder as he sprinted down the stairs of the hotel.

The two of them had reacted on impulse, grabbing a Pokeball containing Charizard before leaving as quickly as possible, heading towards Prism Tower.

As Ash and Pikachu made it to the street, they saw that the city was in chaos. Everyone had realised the possible danger and had started to either evacuate out of the city or take cover in a building.

Ash ran down the street, weaving in and out of the crowd, trying to get there as quick as possible before anything happened.

"Why is a Garchomp here?" Ash asked Pikachu nonchalantly, not realising that the noise was too loud for his Pokemon to hear him.

As he was running, Garchomp landed on the floor outside of Prism Tower, firing a few attacks towards the other buildings and the running crowds.

Dragon Pulses and Hyper Beams flew past as Ash and Pikachu ran, finally arriving at their destination with a few people staring at them as if they were crazy while they cautiously approached the rampaging Pokemon.

"Garchomp, what are you doing?" Ash asked it, noticing that there was a collar on it. "Do you have a trainer?"

Garchomp responded with another attack, brushing the top of Ash's head as he only just managed to duck underneath it.

"Chomp!" Garchomp shouted, taking flight again and landing on the first layer of the tower, firing attacks at Ash and Pikachu.

The two of them jumped around the attacks, heading over to the tower as fast as possible, knowing that they wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.

A helicopter flew overhead, broadcasting the event live to the region, along with the ability for nearby regions to tune in and watch the devastation, including Kanto.

"We're here at Prism Tower, where a rampaging Garchomp is attacking the city," The news reporter shouted to the camera, looking between the camera and the devastation. "There's a boy and his Pokemon heading towards the Garchomp, possibly its trainer, so let's hope they can stop it!"

* * *

"Hey, Serena! Come and look at this!"

"What is it, Mum?" Serena asked her mother, entering the living room and taking a seat on the couch next to her, sipping a bottle of water. "Another one of your movies?"

As she looked at the screen, Serena realised that it was a live broadcast from Lumiose City.

"What's going on!?" Serena asked her mother, slightly alarmed now.

"A Garchomp is going on a rampage and is destroying the city. There's a boy going after it, maybe he is its trainer?"

Serena watched in horror as she saw the garchomp in action, firing Hyper beams at the boy chasing after it.

The camera switched to a close up of the running boy, and, nearly spitting out the water, Serena watched in shock as she looked at Ash Ketchum jump over some rubble and start climbing up a ladder on the side of the building.

Serena's mother, Grace, noticed Serena's shock and looked at Ash for a few seconds, knowing that she knew him, but having to think hard about it before she finally realised who it was.

"Is that... Ash?" Grace asked Serena who nodded, confirming her suspicions. "Since when has he been in Kalos?"

"He texted me today to tell me that he's arrived," Serena told her, to which she nodded.

"Makes sense, I'm actually surprised that you haven't been talking to me about it that much," Grace said, turning back to the T.V and seeing something shocking. "Look!"

Serena turned to the T.V, gasping lightly at what she saw.

* * *

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted, watching as Ash was blasted across the tower, landing on his back just in front of the edge.

Garchomp growled before taking flight again towards the top of the tower, perching itself at the edge, watching as Ash got up and, surprisingly, grabbed onto the ladder again, starting to climb up higher.

"I think you should stay here," Ash told Pikachu, who shook his head before jumping back up onto his shoulder.

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, pointing at Garchomp.

"You're right, Garchomp would be too hard to calm down on my own," Ash muttered before proceeding to continue climbing, his chest getting slightly tighter the higher he went.

Hearing a few people screaming, Ash looked over to Garchomp, noticing that it was charging up a Hyper Beam.

Slightly startled, Ash climbed as fast as he could, reaching the top and diving out of the way, the beam brushing the top of his head as he only just dodged it.

As Ash looked up from the floor, he noticed something glistening around Garchomps neck. Looking closer, Ash realised that it wasn't just a collar, it had electricity sparks coming out and zapping into the Pokemon.

"Pikachu! It's collar! It's doing something!" Ash exclaimed, jumping up from the floor and pointing at the metal around the Pokemon's neck.

"It looks like the boy has seen something!" The reporter shouted over the wind to the camera, pointing at Ash who was pointing at the collar.

Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder, watching as Ash stared at the Garchomp, it staring back at him with a mix of anger and admiration.

"Pikachu," Ash whispered to Pikachu, gaining his attention. "I'm going to run towards it, when we get close, jump and use Iron Tail on the collar thing."

Pikachu nodded, looking down towards the ground, noticing how far up they were.

Ash took a deep breath before lunging forwards into a sprint, running as fast as he could towards Garchomp, who was startled by the sudden movement.

"Now!" Ash shouted out, feeling the weight from his shoulder suddenly disappear as Pikachu jumped off, his tail turning to solid steel before he slammed it down into the collar, smashing it completely before Pikachu landed on the ground gracefully near the edge of the tower.

Garchomp staggered backwards, almost falling off the edge before stopping, keeping its balance for a second before crumpling forwards, fainted.

Ash walked forwards, placing a hand on Garchomp's neck, pulling the collar off. Examining it, Ash saw that it was, indeed, forcing Garchomp to do what it did.

"Pikachu, come here and look at this," Ash told Pikachu, who nodded, taking a step forwards before slipping, and, with a scream of his name, falling off the building.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, dropping the collar and running to the edge before, not thinking what he was doing, jumping off the tower, diving for Pikachu, reaching him and embracing his beloved Pokemon in his arms.

Screams echoed through the city as they watched Ash and Pikachu fall, presumably to their deaths.

* * *

Serena and her mother gasped as they watched Ash and Pikachu fall. The two of them were sat there in shock, praying that nothing bad would happen to them.

Fortunately, a Charizard appeared from Ash's Pokeball, flying below the two falling specimens before swooping them up no more than twenty metres from the ground, flying them over to a clearing and dropping them off.

* * *

Ash gasped as he dropped off Charizard, falling to his hands and knees as he regained his breath. It's literally breath-taking; falling from the top of a building.

The crowd ran over to Ash, Pikachu and Charizard, eager to ask them questions. Why did they do it? How did they do it? were they crazy?

Their questions were put to an end by Charizard unleashing a powerful Flamethrower into the air, scaring everyone off before turning to see Ash slowly climb to his feet.

"Thanks, Charizard," Ash said, reaching out and patting Charizard on the head before returning it to his Pokeball.

"Ash!"

A voice echoed throughout the area, calling Ash's name.

Ash turned to look at where it came from, and he saw a man running over to him. A man with black, curly hair in a lab coat.

* * *

 **Who is this person? What do you think is going to happen next? Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys! No! I'm not going to say what I've said for the past two chapters, because that would be dumb. Anyway, let's get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

Ash looked at the man, watching him run over to him before slowing down at the last second, nearly tripping over.

"Can I help you?" Ash asked him, confused as to who he was and how the man knew who he was.

"I've heard about what happened!" The man exclaimed, to which Ash and Pikachu mentally facepalmed.

"I think everyone in the region has, so you're honestly not that special," Ash said, getting slightly irritated at the fact that this random guy in a lab coat way too big that it looked like a trench coat, not telling him who he was.

The man laughed a bit before looking over at the Garchomp on the top of the tower, who smirked before flying down to him.

"There you go, Garchomp," the man said, patting the Pokemon on the head before returning it to its Pokeball.

"So, it's yours?" Ash asked him, knowing the answer but not entirely certain.

"Yeah," The man said, pausing for a second before continuing. "Some trio of idiots put that collar on her, so I came after her. I only just got here."

Ash nodded, wondering what to say before the perfect thing came to his head.

"Why are you wearing a lab coat?" Ash asked him, looking at the lab coat curiously.

"I'm the Pokemon professor of this region," the man said, much to Ash's surprise. "I'm Professor Sycamore."

Ash stayed silent for a second, trying to process the information quickly while thinking of a question he could ask before he heard Sycamore speak again.

"I'm sorry, I have to dash! I've got to prepare for the summer camp I'm hosting here in Lumiose in three days!" Sycamore said, catching Ash's attention.

Sycamore nodded at Ash before turning around and walking off in the direction of a giant, white laboratory which he proceeded to enter.

Two words span around Ash's head: Summer camp.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked Ash, noticing the concentrated look on his face.

"It's fine, Pikachu," Ash told him, turning around and starting to walk in the direction of the hotel.

* * *

Serena fell backwards on the couch, relieved that Ash didn't die, and relieved that nothing too bad happened with the Garchomp.

"Well, that's a relief," Grace said, also slouching back into the sofa, turning the television off as she did so.

Staying silent, Serena started to think about something: How she would go and meet up with Ash.

Serena stood up, walking over to her bedroom and grabbing her phone, bag, money, etcetera.

"I'm going to go to Lumiose and find Ash," Serena told her mother as she walked through the living room towards the front door.

"Are you sure?" Grace asked her daughter, twisting her body around to look at Serena, who nodded. "Alright, be careful though! I don't want you to get caught up in something like what we just watched!"

"I will be careful, I promise!" Serena told her mother quickly, annoyed at the fact that she constantly asked her questions or told her to be careful when there would most likely be no danger.

Grace got out of her seat and walked over to Serena, pulling her into a quick embrace before letting go of her daughter, letting Serena leave the house with a smile.

As Serena walked out of her house, she grabbed her bike and started to cycle through the respective towns and routes all the way to Lumiose City.

* * *

Ash fell backwards onto the hotel bed, taking a long second to sigh before pulling out his phone as he felt a vibration.

Opening up his text messages with Serena, he saw that she had told him that she was on her way to Lumiose, and would be at his hotel in around twenty minutes.

"She'll be here soon, Pikachu," Ash told Pikachu who exclaimed his name in joy, hopping up the bed towards Ash, looking at his phone.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, pointing at one of Serena's previous messages from the day prior.

Ash scrolled up to it so it was in the centre of the screen, letting Pikachu read it, who laughed at how awkward she acted after Ash complimented her.

Smiling lightly, Ash shut off his phone, placing it on the bedside table before leaning back, placing his hands behind his head and starting to think about one specific thing from earlier in the day: The summer camp.

Thinking about the possibility of this summer camp having more-or-less the same activities as the camp he and Serena went to when they were younger, Ash started to relive the memories of that day.

* * *

-Flashback-

* * *

Ash chased the Poliwag through the forest, eager to catch it and hold it in his arms. However, the Poliwag jumped through a bush easily that Ash, while being young and small, couldn't jump through in more-or-less the same amount of time.

A scream echoed through the area, alerting Ash and the surrounding Pokemon of possible danger.

Brushing it off, Ash clambered through the bush, emerging on the other side with no sight of the Poliwag.

"Poliwag?" Ash called out, trying to see if it would respond, but Ash wasn't surprised when his call was met with silence.

Ash looked down at the floor in defeat, and with a sigh, walked forwards slightly before hearing a light gasp.

Ash looked up from the floor, seeing a girl sat on the floor, leaning against a tree with tears in her eyes, clutching her knee.

"Are you alright?" Ash asked the girl, who shook her head, looking down at her leg.

"I hurt my leg," the girl said, rubbing her knee lightly before wincing from the pain.

"I can help you," Ash said, kneeling down next to the girl, pulling out a handkerchief and wrapping it around the area she hurt, tying a knot tightly to make sure it didn't slip off.

Ash stood up, waving his hands in a magician-like way. "Pain, pain, go away!" Ash exclaimed.

The girl waited for a second before sighing. "It still hurts," she said, almost giving up.

"Never give up 'till it's over, 'kay?" Ash asked her, extending out his arm towards her, to which she grabbed it and Ash pulled her up, slightly over-doing it with the force and pulling her into a light embrace,

The girl pushed herself away from him, blushing slightly, but not letting go of his hand.

"You did it!" Ash exclaimed, happy that she managed to stand up.

The girl nodded for a second, smiling before looking around.

"Come on, I'll take you back to the camp," Ash said, leading her away from the forest.

* * *

-End of flashback-

* * *

Ash was pulled out of his trance by frantic knocking on his hotel door.

Throwing himself off the bed, Ash rushed over to the door, frightened that it was an emergency due to the style of knocking. However, to Ash's simultaneous bewilderment and relief, he saw Serena stood in front of him with a cheeky smile on her face.

"Serena!" Ash exclaimed, shocked, yet happy to see her.

"Long time, no see, Ash!" Serena replied, throwing her arms around his neck, pulling him into a strong embrace.

Awkwardly, Ash stood there with a slight blush evident on his face, wondering what he should say. He hated awkward silences.

"Well, come in," Ash said quietly, pulling away from Serena, who looked like she wanted that moment to continue for longer. Ash shrugged the thought off, she was just a friend, anyway. It's not like she has...

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted, running across the floor and diving into Serena, who staggered lightly, catching him.

"Arceus! That hurt," Serena said, putting Pikachu on the floor with a smile.

"Pika, pika," Pikachu said, apologising while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Are you all right?" Ash asked her, walking over to Serena as she sat on the bed.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just slightly winded," Serena muttered, grabbing Ash's hand and pulling him onto the bed next to her.

Ash sat down, placing a hand on Serena's stomach and rubbing it slightly. "Is this helping?"

Serena nodded lightly, smiling. "You know, if we never met, I don't know what would have happened to me!"

Ash sighed. "You'd probably be happier," Ash muttered, looking around the room to avoid eye-contact. "I always seem to ruin things."

Serena shook her head. "I'm happier being able to talk to you," she said, placing her hand on top his, squeezing it lightly.

Ash smiled. "Thanks, Serena."

"Should we go out and do something?" Serena asked Ash, who nodded.

"I've heard something about a summer camp being held here, in Lumiose," Ash said, catching Serena off guard as they left the room. "I was wondering if you wanted to go, for old time sake."

Serena thought about it for a moment before nodding. "All right, let's do that!"

* * *

 **So, there's the chapter. I hope you liked it, as we're getting quite close to the main plot. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, guys! I'm back, and, no, I'm not going to say it... I bet you're waiting for me to say the infamous line. Well, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to say that I'm back with another chapter. Wait... Crap... I did it again. Anyway, let's just get to the chapter before I mess this up even more.**

* * *

Ash and Serena arrived at the Pokemon laboratory situated in Lumiose City. Taking a seat, Serena watched as Ash walked over to a woman in a lab coat, asking her if they could see Professor Sycamore.

The woman nodded, leaving the room while Ash walked over to Serena, taking a seat next to her. "So, are you excited?"

Serena nodded vigorously, a smile plastered on her face. "Of course," she said enthusiastically, grabbing Ash's arm and pulling him towards her, embracing him in an awkward side-hug.

"Woah!" Ash exclaimed, taken aback by the sudden movement.

Serena smiled, letting go of him with a slight blush on her face. "Sorry, I'm just really happy about this. We get to relive our old memories!"

Ash nodded slowly, staring at Serena as she looked around the room, taking in the details while waiting to talk to Sycamore. Ash didn't know why, but he suddenly noticed how attractive she had grown over the years they hadn't seen each other. Just looking at her, Ash's breath was almost taken away. "Hey, Ash! What are you looking at?" Serena's voice snapped Ash out of his stupor. Ash blushed lightly, shrugging at Serena, who sighed. "Did you start to daydream or something?"

Ash nodded quickly, unable to come up with an excuse, so he latched onto Serena's explanation like a parasite with weird hair. "Yeah, I was just thinking about the camp," Ash said, hoping it would be enough to convince Serena, who believed him. "Hey, Ash!" A voice came from not too far away.

Ash turned to see Sycamore walking over to him and Serena, a smile etched on his face. "What a surprise! I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"We wanted to talk to you about this summer camp you're preparing," Ash told him, to which Sycamore nodded.

"Yes, it's going quite well. I've got the area built and the activities are scheduled. All we need to do now is wait," he told the two. "What did you want to know?"

Ash took a look at Serena for a second, who nodded lightly. "We would like to join."

Sycamore looked at Ash and Serena for a few seconds. His smile evolved into a smirk. "Let me guess, it's because of the summer camp you went to when you were kids?"

Ash and Serena looked at him in shock for a few seconds. "How did you know?" They asked him in unison, slightly creeped out by his knowledge of that.

"I was upstairs when you came in, and I overheard you talking about it," Sycamore explained, leaving Ash and Serena to sigh in relief. This man was not a stalker- Or, at least, they didn't have any incriminating evidence to suggest that he was.

"So, can we join?" Serena asked Sycamore, her eyes sparkling as she thought about the possibility of her childhood coming back to her.

"Of course," Sycamore said, watching as both Ash and Serena's eyes lit up, looking at each other in joy, massive smiles on their faces.

"Great!" Ash exclaimed, standing up, pulling Serena out of her seat as he did so.

"Be here tomorrow for eight a clock in the morning, that's when the camp starts. Oh! By the way, there are cabins here that you will be staying in, so make sure that you ring everything you'll need tomorrow."

"How long is the camp going on for?" Ash suddenly asked Sycamore, stopping in his tracks to hear the answer.

"One week."

Ash and Serena nodded, thanking the professor as they left the building.

"I'm so happy!" Serena exclaimed, grabbing onto Ash's arm and shoving him lightly.

"I know you are, and I am too, but you don't need to push me!" Ash told her, pretending to be annoyed.

"Sorry," Serena said with a pout, looking away for a second before realising that he was joking. "Arceus, Ash!"

Ash burst out laughing, unable to contain himself. "S-Serena," Ash said, having trouble talking, trying to calm himself down to make his words understandable. "I-I c-can't believe you f-fell for that!"

"Shut up!" Serena exclaimed, shoving Ash again, but a bit harder, causing him to stumble and hit a lamp post. "Oh, Arceus! I'm sorry, Ash!"

Ash pushed off the post, stabilising himself before straightening up. "It's all right. I don't care," Ash told her, chuckling lightly.

* * *

An awkward silence engulfed the two as they made their way back to the hotel, neither of them wanting to break the silence, afraid that they'd make a fool of themselves.

As the two of them walked into Ash's hotel room, Serena realised a slight flaw in their plan.

"Ash... Where am I going to stay?" Serena asked him out of nowhere, taking a seat on his bed, watching as Ash's facial expression changed to one of confusion.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked her, causing Serena to sigh.

"We have to go to the camp at eight in the morning for the next week, Ash. I can't travel from Vaniville Town to here that early in the morning. My mother wouldn't let me," Serena told Ash, who shrugged.

"It's obvious, we'll book you a room here," Ash told Serena who shook her head.

"I don't have nearly enough money to book a room, and before you say anything, I'm not letting you pay for me!" Serena exclaimed, pointing at Ash to try and get her point across.

"Well, it's obvious. Either you sleep in this room, or I book a room for you."

Serena looked around the room begrudgingly, searching for an area to sleep, but she didn't see anywhere. "There isn't an area to sleep for me."

Ash looked at her for a second, shocked. "Serena," Ash started, gaining her attention.

"What?" Serena asked him, looking over at Ash, wondering what he was going to say.

"You take the bed, I'll sleep on the floor," Ash told her, to which Serena vigourously shook her head.

"No! This is your room that you booked, I'll sleep on the floor," Serena exclaimed, pointing at the floor, hoping that Ash would accept it.

Ash sighed, knowing that Serena was the human-embodiment of desiring to get her own way. "Fine, but at least take the blankets."

Serena looked at Ash in confusion, wondering how he could be so stupid. "But then you'll get cold."

"What do you mean?"

Serena sighed, pointing at the bed she was sitting on. "There's one blanket."

"Ah," Ash said, trying to brainstorm for an idea before Serena piped up, saying something about her idea."

"Well, it's a double bed, and..." Serena started, a massive blush taking over her face, causing her to stop talking.

Ash looked between her and the bed, getting an idea on what she was going to say. "Would you... Be alright with that?"

Serena nodded slightly, pushing her hair in front of her face to hide her blush.

Sighing, Ash turned and walked into the bathroom to change his clothes, leaving Serena in the main room to also change.

Serena turned to Pikachu, pointing at the wardrobe, asking him to get in it to give her some privacy, to which Pikachu nodded, turning around before bounding into the wardrobe.

Serena stood up before she started to undress, taking her clothes off and tossing them into a pile in the corner of the room before realising a critical flaw in their plan.

"Uhh, Ash! I don't have anything to change into!" Serena shouted to Ash though the door, who spat the toothpaste out of his mouth and into the sink.

"I've got a spare t-shirt somewhere on the floor, you can wear that."

Serena nodded lightly, despite Ash not being able to see her. Walking around the room, she eventually spotted the shirt, picking it up before putting it on. Noticing that it was slightly big on her, Serena decided to not care about her waist downwards. Ash wouldn't see that anyway, seeing as she would get under the covers before he came out.

Staying true to her plan, Serena slid into the bed, covering herself before telling Pikachu that it was alright to come out, who pushed the door open before jumping onto the foot of the bed, curling up in a ball before closing his eyes, trying to get to sleep.

"Are you alright with me coming out now?" Ash called out to Serena, who nodded.

"Yeah."

Ash opened the door, wearing no shirt and pyjama bottoms. "So," Ash muttered, sighing as he reluctantly pulled back the covers before clambering into the bed.

The two of them shifted uncomfortably as they looked at each other, unable to believe that they were actually doing this.

"Are you... Comfortable?" Ash asked Serena, who nodded, a smile creeping onto her face. "A little cold though. Could you... Hold me close to you?"

Ash looked at her in shock for a second before he gained a little smile of his own, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her closer to him until their faces were less than ten centimetres away. "Is that better?" Ash asked her, to which Serena nodded, moving her head lower until it was resting on his chest.

"It's even better now," Serena muttered, a huge smile and a huge blush plastered on her face.

"Goodnight, Serena," Ash said to her.

"Goodnight, Ash," Serena replied to him.

* * *

 **There we go, the chapter's done. Sorry, it took a while to write, but I just ended up taking a little break in the middle of writing this. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, guys! I'm back after a little break. I haven't really been doing too much writing, seeing as I've had to get every single video ready that will be uploaded in June. If you're interested, I have two YouTube channels. The main one that I made all the videos for is called JAMES/GOLDENGOBLIN290, and I have a Pokemon channel by the name of POKEGOLD290. Go check them out if you're interested, but, without further or do, let's get to the chapter!**

* * *

Ash stirred in his sleep, feeling something heavy land on his legs. "W-What?" Ash muttered, groggily opening his eyes only to see Serena's face inches from his; she was still asleep, though.

Ash was jolted awake by the close proximity between him and Serena, remembering that they both had slept together the night before, but still, it was weird for him.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted, startling Ash slightly. So, it was Pikachu who landed on Ash's legs, waking him up. Not an anvil or anything, although that's what it felt like for Ash.

"Be quiet, Pikachu," Ash said, looking over Serena's shoulder to look at the little, yellow mouse. "Serena's still asleep."

Pikachu grinned, standing up on his two back legs, he lifted up his two front legs, using his fingers to form a heart shape before pointing it at Ash and Serena, making sure that he could see them both in the shape.

"Stop it, Pikachu. We're just friends," Ash told him, slightly blushing at the idea of him and Serena being together as a couple, which, to him at least, didn't seem like a bad idea.

"What's Pikachu saying, Ash?" Serena asked him, opening her eyes to look at Ash, who jumped as soon as she started talking, causing her to giggle slightly afterwards.

"I thought you were asleep!" Ash exclaimed, catching his breath afterwards.

"Well," Serena said, a slight blush appearing on her face. "I was, but I woke up about ten minutes ago, and... I like cuddling with you."

Ash was taken aback by her words, but, looking at her, he could tell she wasn't joking. "Really?"

"Y-Yeah," Serena muttered, shifting her arms slightly, causing Ash to notice that she had them wrapped around his neck, while he had his arms holding onto her back.

"We're in... A weird position, aren't we?" Ash asked her, causing her to look at him, confusion evident on her face as she stared into Ash's eyes.

"What do you mean?" She asked him, for some reason, eager to know the answer.

"Well, you're laying directly on top of me, and we're clinging to each other for dear life!" Ash explained, causing her to giggle at the last part.

"It's comfortable, though," Serena reminded him, causing Ash to nod before he looked over at the clock, noticing that it read seven AM.

"Well, I'm going to have to break this nice moment we've got here," Ash told Serena, who looked confused. "It's seven. We need to get up now if we're going to get to the camp on time!"

Serena looked disappointed. She was enjoying the relaxing moment the two of them had together. So much, in fact, that she didn't want it to end. "No!"

Ash looked her in the eyes, confused as to why she suddenly piped up, attempting to reject the facts. "What do you mean? We have to get up."

"I know," Serena said, starting to get desperate. "I just... Five more minutes? Please."

Ash sighed, knowing he couldn't resist her pleading. "Fine. Five more minutes. No more than that though, all right? We need to get up."

Serena nodded, lowering her head until it was resting on Ash's shoulder, her face buried in the crook of his neck.

Even though Ash was eager to get up and get ready, he was enjoying his time spent with Serena. It was like an angel was clinging to him. That's how Ash thought of it.

* * *

Fifty minutes later, Ash and Serena, along with Pikachu, left the hotel, heading towards Professor Sycamore's lab, which they were nearly at, as that was where he wanted them to meet him before he would lead them to the camp.

"Are you excited, Serena?" Ash asked her, to which she nodded, almost shaking due to the mixture of excitement and nervousness, but she kept her cool, not wanting to look odd to any on-lookers.

As the two of them entered the building, their bags, pulling on their shoulders, they were both greeted by Sycamore coming out of a room, a bag of his own on his back, although it didn't look like it was causing him any strain. "Hello, you two," Sycamore said as soon as he noticed them standing there. "Are you ready for the summer camp?"

Ash and Serena nodded in unison, causing Pikachu to laugh lightly, which, in turn, caused Ash and Serena to chuckle, followed by Sycamore. "Well," Professor Sycamore said. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes. I just have to go and help my assistant who will also be coming. She's leaving someone in charge of looking over the lab while we're gone, so she has to make sure that they can be trusted."

"I hope they can," Ash said, earning a nod from Sycamore. "This lab must contain hundreds of Pokemon."

"It does, in fact," Sycamore muttered before smiling at Ash and Serena one last time, leaving the room as he did so, presumably to go and help his assistant.

Serena dropped down onto the couch, who was quickly followed by Ash, who took off his bag, placing it on his lap, Serena copying his actions. "It won't be long now, Serena," Ash told her, who smiled, excited.

"I can't wait!" Serena exclaimed, causing Ash and Pikachu to laugh.

"Well, we don't have long to wait," Ash reminded her, causing her to squeal lightly as a result, making Ash recoil slightly, as the sudden noise startled him.

Serena laughed at Ash's jumpiness along with Pikachu, causing Ash to blush lightly, embarrassed at his reaction. "Sorry," Serena said, only just managing to get the words out through her laughter.

Sighing, Ash shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he told her, hoping that she wouldn't be too apologetic for something she couldn't control.

"I'm just so excited!"

"That's good, seeing as we're going now!" Sycamore told her as he re-entered the room, followed by his assistant.

Ash and Serena stood up smiling, grabbing their bags before they followed Sycamore out of his lab, entering a minibus before the four of them and Pikachu drove off to the camp.

* * *

 **There we go. Done! Another chapter is complete! Again, sorry for the wait, but I've been busy with YouTube. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, guys! I'm back again! I'm trying to get back in the swing of things now, seeing as I seem to alternate between posting somewhat regularly and not posting for a while, so I'm trying to post a lot more regularly now. Anyway, without further or do, let's get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

The minibus pulled up to the camp, Ash, Serena, Pikachu, Sycamore and his assistant clambered out, slamming the doors before standing there for a few seconds, taking in the surroundings, which consisted of trees, fields, and about five cabins that were big enough to house around four or five people.

"Well, we're here!" Sycamore exclaimed, raising his arms above his head, stretching his legs after the journey.

"This reminds me of the old days," Ash said nonchalantly, his eyes bouncing from area to area, taking everything in with a sense of ease.

"The good old days," Serena muttered before turning to Sycamore. "So, where's everyone else?"

"They'll arrive soon. I've made sure that we could get here quickly to set things up for the day," Sycamore told them. "If you don't mind, I'd like you two to help me set up, and, in return, you can choose the cabin you'll be in."

Ash nodded, signifying that he and Serena would be alright with that. "Alright, you should go and inhabit a cabin, then. Choose one, drop your stuff off, then come back out to help."

Ash and Serena nodded in unison before walking toward the cabins together. "So, which one do you want to take?" Ash asked her, watching as Serena's eyes scanned over the five cabins, all with different Pokemon on the doors. The one on the far left was Xerneas, the one next to Xerneas was Chestnaught, the one in the centre was Greninja, the one next to Greninja was Delphox, and the last one, next to Delphox and the furthest to the right was Yveltal.

Serena pointed at the one in the centre; Greninja. Ash nodded as a response. Ever since Serena moved to Kalos, he had started to research the place a little more, seeing what types of Pokemon lived there, including the starters, to which he liked Greninja the most, although each Pokemon is as good as the other as long as they're trained right. He did all this as he planned to go at some point. And here he was!

Serena led the way, opening the door before sliding her back off her back and dropping it on the floor for the time being. Ash followed, entering the room to see that it consisted of four single beds, a television, four sperate wardrobes (British for closet), and a bathroom, connected to the whole thing by a single door in the corner.

Ash put his bag down too before grabbing Serena's arm, leading her out of the cabin and back outside to Sycamore. "So, you're chosen Greninja, huh?" Sycamore asked them, to which they both nodded. "Good choice. Greninja is an incredible Pokemon."

Ash nodded before he noticed the professor's assistant hooking up a microphone to some speakers. Noticing Ash's curiosity, Sycamore spoke up. "I'll be delivering a speech to everyone before the camp officially starts. I'll also be announcing every activity here. I'll go into more detail when the time comes, though. There's no point in explaining it twice if you're going to be present to both explanations."

"Right, so what do we need to do?"

"Not much, just help my assistant set that up," Sycamore said, pointing back at the microphone before continuing. "After that, can you help clean up the cabins? I doubt there's too big of a mess, we just need to clean up whatever's there just in case."

Ash and Serena exchanged a look of surprise before nodding nonchalantly, confirming that it was alright. "Great!" Sycamore exclaimed before heading back over to the minibus, pulling a few things out before taking them through the trees to the place he and his assistant would be staying.

Ash and Serena walked over to Sycamore's assistant, exchanging a few words before the three of them set off to work, Pikachu chasing his own tail nearby for a little fun while they worked.

* * *

Two hours later, Ash and Serena had finished their tasks, heading back to the cabins for a bit while waiting for everyone attending the camp to arrive. "So, we need to unpack," Ash told Serena, who nodded, agreeing with him before grabbing her bag and taking it over to a bed, starting to unpack.

Ash grabbed his bag too, taking it over to the bed opposite Serena's before also starting to unpack.

Pulling out the few pairs of clothes he had, Ash threw them into the wardrobe before taking his toothbrush, deodorant, etcetera in the bathroom.

"Are you done?" Ash asked Serena as he came out, seeing her nod as she zipped her bag back up, dropping it on the floor next to her bed. Ash did the same, knowing that there would be a tiny possibility for them to for some reason need their bags with them, as, most likely, the rest of the day would consist of them and the other kids getting shown around the camp and being told about everything, also being instructed on what to do and what not to do while there.

Serena left the cabin, Ash following behind her only to be greeted by a few cars pulling up outside the camp, Sycamore heading over to greet the new arrivals. "Looks like we timed that perfectly," Ash muttered, seeing Serena nod in his peripheral vision.

"I guess this is where the camp truly begins," Serena said nonchalantly, grabbing Ash's arm and dragging him with her as she walked towards Sycamore and the new arrivals, eager to talk to the people she would be spending the next week with.

"Oh. Hello, Serena, Ash," Sycamore greeted the two, clearly surprised by their sudden appearance in front of them, as if they were both Abras using Teleport.

"Hey, Professor!" Serena exclaimed before turning to face the newcomers, a smile plastered on her face.

"Professor, who's the pretty girl?" A young girl asked Sycamore, pointing at Serena, who recoiled, blushing furiously.

"She's got a point," Ash said, chuckling lightly, causing Serena to blush more, staring at Ash with a shocked look on her face, almost as if she was begging Ash to not say any more.

"Serena," Sycamore said, answering the girl's question.

A younger boy tapped Serena on the leg, getting her attention before pointing at Ash. "Is that your boyfriend?"

"No!" Ash and Serena exclaimed in unison, both of them donning massive blushes on their faces due to the idea of them being together, yet they both had mental smiles on their faces at the idea as well.

The kids laughed at Ash and Serena's awkwardness, knowing that it was a good idea to stop, heading off with Sycamore as he showed them the rest of the camp.

Ash sighed, looking over at Serena who was steadily recovering from the embarrassment, a hand on her chest as she took a few deep breaths. "It was your idea to come over here and introduce ourselves," Ash told her, causing Serena to look at him, confused. "Look what happened!"

"I didn't know that they seem to be romance-crazed kids!" Serena exclaimed, defending herself, causing Ash to laugh lightly.

"It doesn't matter."

"Yeah, it doesn't."

"We can forget about this, right?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't that bad of an idea."

Ash paused, shocked at what Serena just said. He looked her in the eyes, but he could tell she wasn't joking. "Don't be silly," Ash said, turning and heading back to Sycamore.

* * *

 **Another chapter is done! And it came with a bit of a strange ending. I don't know why, but that's what I want. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! Quite obvious, I know, but I can't be bothered to think of a joke or something to make this an interesting start. I know what I should do though: Shut up and get on with the chapter. So, without further or do, let's get to the chapter!**

* * *

Serena watched Ash leave with a slight sense of sadness. However, she didn't understand why. Sure, there's the possibility that she could've accidentally made him angry or something, but it didn't seem like it. He was just saying that as a joke or something, right?

Ignoring the thoughts, Serena followed him slowly, remembering the embarrassment those kids put her through. Hopefully, they wouldn't do that again!

Walking through the cabin door not long after Ash, she only just realised that they were in the cabin. Why? Shouldn't they be with Sycamore and the other campers? Well, to be fair, they had been in the area for a while, therefore, they had a little knowledge on the whereabouts of a few areas. Surely they didn't have to be shown twice!

"Ash?" Serena called out, wondering where he was. She walked forwards a few paces, eyes scanning the room in search of him.

"I'm over here, Serena," Ash called back, confusing Serena a little more until the saw the red of his trainers on the floor on the other side of his bed.

Serena walked over, wondering what he was doing, only to see Ash laying on the floor, half underneath the bed and half not. "What are you doing?"

"Reaching for my bag."

"Why is it under there?"

"Pikachu pushed it under here as a 'prank.' And it wasn't even funny, Pikachu. Just annoying!"

Serena looked over at Pikachu who was laughing his head off. Serena gave him a light smile and a wink as if to say 'good job.'

Pikachu nodded, signifying that he understood what she meant, giving her a light thumbs-up as he did so.

"You do realise I can see you, right?" Ash asked them, his voice only just reaching the two, causing them to nearly jump out of their skin.

"N-No, you can't!" Serena exclaimed quickly, hoping that he was just joking.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry, Serena. I was mistaken. It was a piece of wood; not you. Sorry, I was mistaken- Of course, I can see you!" Ash told them quickly, making Serena nearly die from laughter, using the bed-post to hold herself up from collapsing to the floor; her actions being closely followed by Pikachu, who rolled onto the floor, squirming around while clutching his stomach.

Ash slid out from under the bed, his bag in his hand, shaking his head. "Why can't you two just be composed? It wasn't even a good joke!"

Serena nodded, and, through tears of laughter, only just managed to splutter out a few words: "It was good!"

Ash shook his head before taking a seat on his bed, grabbing Serena's arm and pulling her down so she ended up laying on her stomach across the middle of the bed.

Serena laughed, sitting up and shoving Ash lightly, causing him to fall over onto his side.

"Oh, it is on!" Ash exclaimed, grabbing Serena and pulling her to his side, making her fall directly next to him, their faces a few inches apart.

"Ash!" Serena exclaimed, a blush forming on her face with rapid speed, not expecting the sudden movement.

"Yeah?" Ash asked her, honestly not caring about the awkwardness of the situation.

Serena sat up, getting off the bed hastily, seeming flustered for some unknown reason in Ash's mind. "Are you alright?" Ash asked her, also sitting up, slightly concerned.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just- Uhh, wasn't expecting it. That's all!" Serena said quickly, almost as if it were some kind of excuse.

"Oh, sorry," Ash said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly feeling awkward now. "I was just messing around."

"I know," Serena muttered before rubbing Pikachu on the head, who was still recovering from his laughter fit from before.

They sat in silence for a few moments before they heard a knock on the door. Serena, seeing as she was already standing up, walked over to it and opened the door, only to see a boy around her age and a younger girl, maybe eight or nine standing beside him, both of them donning bright yellow hair, the boy with round glasses on his face. The two of them looked slightly nervous, and Serena couldn't tell why.

"Hello!" The boy spoke quickly. "I'm Clemont, and this is my little sister, Bonnie. We've been assigned to this cabin for the camp."

Ash stood up from the bed and walked over to the door after hearing what the boy, Clemont has said.

"Y-Yeah," Bonnie stuttered, slightly more calm than her brother, but not by a drastic amount.

"Well," Serena started, glancing at Ash for a moment before putting her focus on the two. "Come on in, then!"

This took Clemont and Bonnie by surprise, evident by the fact that they seemed to take a slight step back. However, the two of them obliged, walking into the cabin after Ash and Serena moved out of the way.

"So, I'm guessing you two have already chosen where you're sleeping and all that?" Clemont asked Ash and Serena, looking in their direction as he spoke.

"Yeah," Ash replied nonchalantly, seeming to be more focused on the fact that no-one had closed the door yet than showing the two newcomers around the cabin. Serena, however, started to unpack for them as soon as they had settled on which bed they'd sleep in, leaving the two to get settled in and relax after the journey and stress of whether or not they'd end up in a cabin with nice people or not nice people.

Ash finally decided on what he was going to do, walking over to the front of the cabin and closing the cabin before opening the window and leaning out. If Ash decided to be honest with himself, he'd know that he actually hated the fact that he was going to have to share the cabin with two people he hadn't met in his life. He was fine with just him and Serena; in fact, he preferred it that way. It wasn't because he was anti-social or anything. No. It all came back to his childhood and what happened to his friend. He'd always felt that it could happen again. Therefore, making more friends would be dangerous. He didn't want the same thing to happen again.

Ash looked over to the announcement area, noticing that Sycamore was making his way over there, presumably to call everyone out.

Sure enough, a few moments later, Sycamore's voice boomed over the entire camp, echoing, telling everyone to head over to the announcement area for a quick briefing on the events.

Ash led the other three out of the cabin, letting Clemont shut the door as he was at the back.

The four of them walked over to the area, the other groups also walking over from the different cabins.

"Right," Sycamore started when everyone got close enough. "For the rest of the day, seeing as it's already half-past-three in the afternoon, I'm going to leave you to get to know your new roommates for the rest of the day. As I showed you before, the canteen is on the left of the entrance, and dinner will be served at six, so be ready to head over there. I will announce that it's time to go for dinner though, just in case you don't notice the time. Anyway, I'm going to go over the activities for tomorrow in the morning, so don't worry about having to remember them throughout the night." Sycamore told everyone before giving the crowd a quick thumbs-up. "That's all for now."

At that, the crowd dispersed, heading back to their cabins to hang around.

* * *

 **There we go! Another chapter is done! Sorry that it took a little while to come out. I've ended up procrastinating, and I don't know why! But, nonetheless, it's here now! Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! If you get this chapter not too long after I posted the last one, then that would be great, seeing as I'm attempting to post a lot more frequently. But, anyway, let's get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

A few hours had passed since Sycamore's little update. Ash and Serena had gotten to know Clemont and Bonnie, with them getting to know Ash and Serena. After that, they had all gone for dinner in the cafeteria, with no shame at the fact that they all scoffed down plates of food. "Hunger hits hard sometimes," was what Ash had told the other people there before the four of them left, leaving the rest of the camp to laugh at them.

The four of them proceeded to head back to their cabin before heading straight to bed, knowing that they would need as much energy as possible the next morning. However, Ash couldn't sleep. It wasn't that he didn't want to go to sleep, or that he wasn't tired enough. No. He was thinking. And he couldn't stop. Not about what the camp could be like, or what they'll be doing. About the night before.

Ash could still feel Serena's soft face pressed into his chest. Heavenly was the word he'd describe that night with. Although Ash could tell Serena was uncomfortable doing that, he could also tell that she enjoyed it.

Sighing, Ash cautiously got out of bed, being careful not to wake anyone up. He could see that the clock said that the time was 1 AM, meaning that everyone else would most likely be asleep.

Ash crept to the end of his bed, putting his clothes on, careful not to make too much noise before slowly exiting the cabin, coming to a halt just outside, deciding to take a seat on the bench just outside the cabin.

While thinking, Ash looked around, hearing Hoothoots and Noctowls screeching in the distance, he began to relax. Before long, he was on the verge of starting to slip out of consciousness when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Ash looked up, seeing it was Serena; he also noticed that she had her hair tied back in a bun. Ash presumed that it might have been getting in the way.

"What are you doing out here this late?" She asked him concerned.

"I could ask you the same thing," Ash said, scooching over to let her sit down; which she gratefully accepted. "I'm just thinking, really," Ash told her, answering her question.

"I couldn't sleep," Serena told him, to which he looked at her curiously.

"You were asleep when I came out here," Ash said, starting to get confused.

"No. I never did get to sleep. But I didn't hear you leave either; you must have been quiet!"

"True."

"Yeah. And a few minutes ago, I looked over and saw you weren't there."

"Why did you look over to my bed though?"

Serena stopped. A blush forming on her face slowly as she tried to figure out an answer to give. Eventually, Serena decided on something to say. "I-I was w-wondering if w-we could do what we did l-last n-night!" Serena exclaimed suddenly, shocking Ash for a few seconds.

"What do you mean?"

"Sleep together."

Now it was Ash's turn to blush. Why on Earth would she want to do that again? But, at the same time, Ash knew the answer. She couldn't sleep. She merely wanted some company. What's bad about that? And anyway, he was previously thinking about the same thing. "S-Sure," Ash replied, being careful not to make a fool out of himself in front of Serena. A girl laughing at him was the last thing he wanted!

Serena smiled nervously before grabbing onto Ash's arm and tugging, urging him to follow her.

Ash stood up and let Serena walk him into the cabin, making sure not to make too much noise with the door. If they woke Clemont and Bonnie up, they would be bombarded with billions of questions which they would have to answer immediately.

Reaching Ash's bed, Ash climbed in, letting Serena get in on top of him. "What about Clemont and Bonnie?" Ash asked Serena.

"No. They're not getting in bed with us too!" Serena exclaimed, giggling lightly.

"That's not what I meant," Ash replied, mentally facepalming at the way he worded it, although, at the same time, he did make Serena laugh. Well, no. She made herself laugh? "I meant: What if they find us like this?"

"They probably already think we're dating. We don't need to worry." Serena said, making sure that Ash wouldn't start to worry about that.

"O-Okay," Ash muttered, starting to think of the possibility that the two of them could end up as a couple. It was farfetched, (Pun definitely intended) but the idea didn't come completely out of the blue.

Serena, letting her hair loose again, proceeded to rest her head on the front of Ash's shoulder, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck.

Ash wrapped his arms around her almost bare back, happy that they were back in this position. "Wait!"

"What?" Serena asked him, not bothering to look him in the eyes as he talked to her.

"I've only just noticed that you're in your underwear."

Serena bolted upright, a mad blush on her face as she scrambled around, looking for a shirt or something to cover herself with. "I'm sorry, Ash!"

"It's alright. I don't mind," Ash told her before he said something without thinking. "You can sleep like that if it's more comfortable."

Serena turned to look at him, her blush getting even worse before she raised an arm and slapped him.

"Ow!" Ash exclaimed, causing Serena to recoil, shocked at what she had just done. "Why did you hit me?"

"I-I," Serena found herself on the verge of tears. "I didn't mean to! You just... Shocked me."

"You don't have to hit me, though," Ash told her, rubbing his cheek which was a vibrant red.

"I-I'm so-" Serena's voice cracked, cutting her off, tears starting to run down her face.

"It's okay," Ash told her, pulling her down on top of him again, holding her in a tight embrace. "I'd do the same thing, honestly. You don't need to cry!"

Serena buried her face into his chest, starting to sob.

"I don't care that you hit me, Serena. In fact, it really doesn't matter."

"Really?" Serena asked him, looking up and into his eyes.

"Really."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

Serena smiled, knowing that her actions didn't cause Ash to hate her. Then, unexpectedly, Ash wiped the tears off her face, giving her a smile before pointing at the cheek she hit. "It doesn't hurt anymore, Serena. See? It's all okay!"

"I lo-" Serena cut herself off, realising that she nearly gave away a secret that would be catastrophic for Ash to know at that moment.

"What?" Ash asked her.

"Nothing," Serena replied, placing her head back on his chest. "Goodnight, Ash."

Ash was confused, but he went with it. "Goodnight, Serena." It was all he could think to say. Then, a few minutes later, Serena's soft breath got slower. She had fallen asleep.

* * *

 **WOW! I wrote practically that entire chapter in one sitting. I wrote the first six paragraphs over two days, then did the rest just now! That was fast. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! I hope this comes out not too long after the last chapter, seeing as I'm attempting to post a lot more frequently. But, either way, you'll be reading this at some point. Anyway, let's get to the chapter!**

* * *

Ash stirred, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light as Serena shook him awake. "What's up?" Ash asked her, looking at the clock, seeing that it was only 6 AM. "We don't have to get up yet, do we?"

"No, Ash," Serena replied. "Sycamore told us to be out there for eight, remember? He told us yesterday when we were travelling here."

"Oh, yeah. But why are we up now?" Ash questioned her, slightly curious and intrigued.

"I-I j-just w-want to talk to you a bit," Serena stammered, clearly scrambling for an answer to give.

"How come?"

"I like talking to you."

"Why?"

"What do you mean 'why,' Ashton Ketchum?" Serena asked him, taken aback by the question. "You're my best friend! Why wouldn't I like talking to you?"

Ash looked at her in shock. "I'm your best friend!?" Ash exclaimed, almost unable to process what Serena had just said.

"Yes, of course," Serena replied, trying her best not to start giggling at Ash's reaction.

"W-Well... You're my best friend too."

Serena blushed yet smiled at the same time, wondering what she should do. Eventually, she made up her mind and rested her head on Ash's chest again. "I like doing this."

Ash chuckled. "Me too."

Serena closed her eyes for a few moments before slipping back into unconsciousness, causing Ash to shake his head lightly. She wanted to wake up early to talk, but she ended up falling asleep again!

Ash decided to close his eyes too before he too slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

One hour later, Serena started to stir, opening her eyes slowly and looking over at the clock, which read 7 AM. She looked at Ash, seeing that he was still asleep. It wouldn't be long until he would wake up too, seeing as Serena only did because of the sunlight bursting through the window.

Serena slid off Ash unwillingly, getting out of bed and grabbing her clothes before heading into the bathroom for a shower, coming back out ten minutes later to find that everyone was awake now.

"Good morning, Serena!" Clemont exclaimed as soon as she entered the room.

"Morning!" Serena replied, heading over to her bed, noticing that Bonnie was eyeing her up curiously.

Serena grabbed her bag, pulled out a hairbrush and started to brush her hair, conscious of Bonnie glancing at her. Then, Bonnie piped up. "Serena, can you come outside for a minute?"

"Sure," Serena replied, quickly finishing and placing her brush back in her bag before heading outside with Bonnie. "So, what is it?" Serena asked her after Bonnie closed the door.

"I know what's going on with you and Ash," Bonnie said slyly, nudging her in the side as Serena grew a slight blush.

"W-What do you mean?" Serena exclaimed, stammering slightly due to the embarrassment.

"You're in a relationship!" Bonnie said in a hushed whisper, making sure that only Serena could hear her.

"No!" Serena's blush got worse, her entire face a bright red. "Y-You've got it all w-wrong! W-We're j-just friends!"

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked her, persistent on the matter.

"Yes! Nothing more, nothing less," Serena told Bonnie, her voice cracking slightly at the end. She would only admit the truth to herself. No-one else.

* * *

"So, what did Bonnie want earlier?" Ash asked Serena, who grew a slight blush at the question. They were heading out of the cabin to go to the announcements. Clemont and Bonnie had gone on ahead, despite there still being five minutes before the announcements would even start.

"N-Nothing important. She just wanted to know if we are da-" Serena cut herself off, knowing that it might not be a good idea telling Ash. Who knows what he could do! He could tease her about it for the rest of the camp!

"If we are what?" Ash asked her, intrigued.

"Doing anything in Kalos after the camp is over," Serena exclaimed quickly, using the first thing that came to her head. "But I told her that I don't know what either of us is doing."

"Well, I might actually travel around the region. I have travelled around Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova before, and Kalos was next on my list. Afterall, I have always wanted to see you again," Ash told her, causing Serena's blush to get worse.

"R-Really?" She asked him, unsure if he was just joking or not.

"Yes. I wouldn't lie to you. You know that, Serena."

Without realising what she was doing, Serena lunged forwards and pulled Ash into a tight embrace, unwilling to let go for any reason. "I don't want to leave you, anyway."

"W-What do you mean?" Ash stammered, shocked by Serena's sudden action.

"I mean that I'm going to travel with you. I don't care what you say. I'm coming too."

Ash smiled, wrapping his arms around Serena for a few moments, feeling an incredible difference as Serena loosened her grip, letting Ash breath normally again.

"So... Are you going to let go? We have to leave, now!" Ash informed Serena, who nodded before solemnly letting go, clearly unwilling to do so.

"Y-Yeah, let's go," Serena murmured, slightly shocked at her own movements, not knowing why she had decided to do that.

"Oh, by the way," Ash started, catching Serena's attention. "I'm going to have to go back to Kanto for a month or so, but I will be back in Kalos after that."

Serena nodded, understanding that Ash would most likely want a while to relax before going on another journey. Afterall, he had lost the Unova league recently. It wouldn't be healthy to immediately plunge into another journey.

"Makes sense," Serena said as the two of them left the cabin, closing the door behind them before walking over to the announcement area, noticing that Sycamore was just setting everything up. They had chosen a perfect time to leave!

"So!" Sycamore exclaimed as soon as he was done. "Welcome to the first official day of the camp!"

The crowd cheered as a response, half of the noise only being half-hearted due to the early hours and possible lack of sleep.

"We're now going to have a few minutes before we start our first activity, being archery, while my assistants and I get everything prepared," Sycamore told everyone, who dispersed, most of them heading towards the cafeteria to grab a coffee.

"So, archery, eh?" Ash muttered, gaining Clemont's attention.

"Have you tried it before?"

"Yes, but I was horrific. I dropped an arrow, and it nearly went through my foot!"

Bonnie burst out laughing hearing that, imagining Ash walking around with a three-inch hole in his shoes.

Serena looked over at Bonnie, raising an eyebrow at the young girl. Having heard what Ash and Clemont were talking about, Serena became slightly confused as to why Bonnie was laughing. Surely she wasn't laughing at that, right?

"Alright, we're ready!" Sycamore's voice boomed over the area, scaring half of the people and causing the other half to laugh at the scared ones.

Sycamore walked over to the area, everyone following behind him. Only one thought echoed through Ash's head: Don't stab yourself with an arrow by accident.

* * *

 **So, we're done! Another chapter! Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! Apologies that it's been a little while since I last posted. I've had to use this past week to film videos in advance for the entire month of August for my main YouTube channel. If you have the unnecessary desire to view said channel, the name is JAMES/GOLDENGOBLIN290. Anyway, without further or do, let's get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

Everyone walked over to the seating area before sitting down, listening to Sycamore as he explained everything. "So, first of all, you need to walk over to the bow, and it's important to stand to the corresponding side of your dominant hand. For me, it's my right hand, so I'm going to go the left side so my right hand is in position to pick up the bow. Do you understand so far?"

Everyone nodded, watching intently, almost fascinated for some unknown reason. Sycamore continued speaking; "Pick up the bow and move it to your non-dominant hand, pick up an arrow by the end that isn't sharp! We don't want any of you to leave without a finger."

A few people chuckled at that, the rest wondering how they found it funny.

"Hold the bow out in front of you, and try to keep it straight. Then, clip the arrow into the little thing sticking out of the side, and pull the arrow back and clip the back of it to the string. Make sure it's straight!"

Sycamore proceeded to pick up the bow and show everyone where the arrow needs to be clipped on to before placing it on the floor and picking up a piece of leather with two holes in it.

"This needs to be placed on your index and middle finger. I won't show you which though because that would be inappropriate," Sycamore explained, again, causing some people to laugh, before proceeding to put the leather on his fingers, flipping it up so it stuck out over the top of his fingers. "This is used so you don't burn your fingers on the string, as the kinetic energy from the fast movement will do that without protection."

Sycamore picked the bow up again and held it in the manner that he had described, positioning the arrow in the correct position too. "Now, the last step is to have your back straight, pull the bow up so it's directly in front of you, use the fingers with the leather on to rest the leather on the string, and place your fingers on top of it, retract the arm holding the string until your fingers are just behind the corner of your eye, make sure the arrow isn't too close that it'll burn you, and let go of the string."

Proceeding to follow the same instructions, Sycamore retracted the arrow and fired it at a target, the arrow landing on the outskirts, in the white. He was rewarded by a round of applause as he placed the bow back on its stand. "Now, who want's to go first?"

A flurry of hands flew up into the air, around half of the campers were volunteering.

Sycamore's eyes scanned the crowd before his eyes landed on a particular person. "Serena? How about you?"

Serena's eyes lit up at that moment, excited. She nodded, clearly ecstatic before making her way out to the front. Everyone put their hands down, now keen to see how she'd do.

"Do you remember it all, or do you need me to guide you a bit?" Sycamore asked her, to which Serena smiled.

"I think I remember each step. I'm not sure though," she said with a little laugh.

"Well, if you need help, just ask. I'll be on the side if you need me."

Serena nodded, a silent way of saying 'thank you.' She was excited, yet nervous. She'd never been up in front of a decently large crowd. But that didn't matter, right? If she messed it up in any way, surely it wouldn't end with them all laughing at her. It was most likely the first time for most of the people there.

With a deep breath, Serena put the leather on her fingers before picking up the bow and an arrow, placing the arrow in the little clip and attaching it to the string. It was so much easier than Sycamore made it seem! All she had to do, was make sure that the bow didn't wobble too much to aim correctly.

Serena made her back straight, lifting the bow up in front of her and withdrawing her arm, pulling the string until the arrow was parallel with her cheek before letting go of the string.

The arrow zoomed through the air before crashing into the target, wedging itself in there in the blue area.

Applause echoed around her as she placed the bow back on its stand, thrilled that she had done it correctly on the first attempt with no help from Sycamore! Like a dream come true.

She sat back down next to Ash, who congratulated her, causing her to blush furiously. Why didn't she realise that was going to happen?

* * *

The rest of the campers took turns doing it, a few of them getting bullseye, which always resulted in a hurricane of screaming just moments after.

Ash scored in the red, delighted that he hadn't nearly sent the arrow through his own foot like the previous time he had attempted archery.

Clemont scored in the white, and Bonnie missed completely, almost hitting the target, but not.

After everyone had a go, Sycamore led them out of the area. "All right, we'll have lunch now, then you'll have an hour-long break before we continue with the activities!" Sycamore announced, causing everyone to cascade into the caféteria, grabbing their lunch gratefully before taking a seat to eat.

Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie grabbed a table in the corner that was just big enough to fit the four of them around it. The four of them tucked into their food, greedily devouring it before leaving not even ten minutes later, splitting up, Clemont and Bonnie going back to the cabin, Ash and Serena staying outside to enjoy the warm, summer air.

"I could sunbathe right now," Serena said out of the blue, causing Ash to look at her, worry in his eyes.

"Please don't do it here! Not in front of me, and especially not in the middle of the camp!"

Serena giggled. "I'm not saying I'm going to, or that I want to right now. I'm just saying that I can if I really want to."

Ash sighed a sigh of relief, not wanting to go through the embarrassment of seeing Serena in a bikini, or, at least, not yet. "Yeah, but still don't!"

Serena giggled again, finding Ash's persistence funny, tempted to do something to see more of this side of him. She gave in, deciding that she was going to do something.

"Hey, Ash. Would you stare at me if I did?" Serena asked Ash, poking him in the centre of his chest as she said it.

"W-What do you mean?" Ash asked her, becoming a clumsy, messy combination of confused and flustered.

"You know, would you stare at my body?"

"W-What!? Yes! No! I don't know!" Ash exclaimed, a blush forcing its way onto his face, causing Serena to giggle yet again. "Y-You're a good looking girl, Serena. But I wouldn't want to come across as creepy!"

Serena pouted slightly. "So, you wouldn't?"

"I don't know..."

Smiling, Serena embraced Ash out of nowhere, catching him off guard. "It's okay. It's nice to know that you think I'm attractive, though!"

"W-Wait! I said that?" Ash pondered out loud. "Arceus! I wasn't meant to!"

Serena let go of Ash before grabbing his arm and dragging him over to a bench. "I'm tired, so can we stay here?" She asked him, taking a seat on the bench, Ash mimicking her movements.

"Sure."

* * *

 **Well, there we go! I've recently realised that this story is probably going to go on for a while due to the detail I put in these chapters. Meh, either way, it doesn't really matter, does it? Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, guys! I'm back again! I always start off these chapters with something like that, and I don't know why! Anyway, seeing as I have nothing interesting to say, let's just get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

After thirty minutes, Serena started to stir, waking up to see that she had fallen asleep on Ash's shoulder, causing her to jolt upright with a blush forming on her face.

"Oh, you're awake. How was your nap?" Ash asked her, turning to face her as he asked the question.

"It was alright. I had a nice dream, too!" Serena replied, smiling.

"Oh, cool. What was it about?"

Serena blushed. "I don't want to tell you. It's embarrassing!"

Ash chuckled lightly. "I hope it's not anything about me!" He said, jokingly, not noticing the blush on Serena's face get worse.

"N-No! O-Of course there was nothing about you!" Serena exclaimed, looking away suddenly.

"Okay?" Ash murmured, confused as to why she reacted like that.

Ash looked down at his watch, noticing that there were around fifteen minutes of the break left before they would have to go and meet up with Sycamore again for the next activity.

Serena noticed Ash looking at his watch. "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get one of these," Ash said, using his hand to point at the watch, causing Serena to laugh a little.

"Seriously, though. What is the time?" Serena repeated, elongating the 'is' to try and show that she wasn't in the mood for too many jokes, or, at least, unfunny jokes.

"It's bang-on eleven-o-clock," Ash told her, making Serena look at him confused.

"When does the break end?"

"In twenty minutes."

"And why did everyone have lunch forty minutes ago?"

Ash shrugged. "We'll have to ask Sycamore when we next see him, but I'm guessing the next activity is going to last a while, and there's going to be no possibility for us to have lunch while doing it."

"That makes sense, I guess," Serena muttered, before averting her gaze to Ash's shoulder, wondering what he'd say if she rested her head on it again. A few seconds later, Serena practically thought 'screw it,' and decided she'd go through with it, but, at the same time, she may have done more than she expected to do, wrapping her arms around him as she rested her head on his shoulder again, catching Ash off guard, causing him to jump when she did it.

"W-What are you doing?" Ash asked her, feeling the softness of her hair brushing against the crook of his neck.

"I just like this. What about you?" Serena asked him, only just realising that they were in public as she saw a few people walking out of their cabins, heading to meet their friends or something before the next activity would start.

"Y-Yeah, I do like it, I guess."

"You guess? Really?" Serena asked him, trying to fish for the answer she wanted to hear.

"Okay, yes, I do. I do like it! Alright?" Ash suddenly exclaimed, causing Serena to giggle at his embarrassment.

Serena became silent as she nuzzled her face into the crook of Ash's neck, accidentally brushing her lips on the side of his neck as she did it, causing her to blush, but, luckily, Ash didn't notice.

Ash heard a few whispers close to him, but he couldn't be bothered to look However, there was no need to, as a few moments later, Bonnie jumped into his field of vision, followed by Clemont.

"I knew you two were dating!" Bonnie exclaimed, pointing at Ash and Serena, causing Serena to jump up in shock, staring at the two of them as if they were aliens.

"We're not dating!" Ash said frantically before he was scared by Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder from behind.

"Yeah, right! I know you are! That's why I talked to you this morning, Serena. I had to see if you were lying!"

Ash looked over to Serena, confused. "I thought you said she wanted to know about what we are going to do after this," Ash said, causing Serena to blush a little.

"Sorry, I was just too embarrassed about it, and I didn't want to tell you. I was also worried about the possibility of you teasing me about it," Serena said, blushing, also wondering why she was telling him everything.

"I'd never tease you about anything, Serena. Well, maybe a few things, but not about anything like that! Or, would I?"

Serena giggled before noticing that Clemont and Bonnie had left, leaving the two of them alone again.

"Hey, Ash," Serena started, causing Ash to look at her.

"Yes?"

"You know last night?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you let me sleep in my underwear?"

The question caught Ash off guard, causing him to stammer a little as he tried to actually talk, but his voice failed him. "I-I j-just wanted y-you to b-be comfortable," Ash said eventually. "N-Nothing else!"

"Are you sure?" Serena asked him, believing him a little as that was the excuse he gave the night before, but not believing him completely.

"Yes!"

"Okay," Serena said with a sigh, resting her head back on Ash's shoulder for a few seconds before Sycamore's voice came across the entire camp.

"Everyone, grab a bottle of water from the cantine. The next activity is a hike. The trip will last a few hours, presumably six or seven, so you will need water with you. Afterwards, come to the area in front of the cabins and wait for further instructions."

"A hike?" Ash pondered out loud.

"For that long, too?" Serena finished, just as confused as Ash.

The two of them got up and headed over to the cantine, grabbing a bottle of water before going over to the cabins as instructed.

Sycamore scanned the crowd, making sure that everyone was there, to which he was greeted by a surprise: Everyone was there already! "Right, so, I'm going to need you to get into groups consisting of the same people who are in your cabins. You will all follow me in your groups at least twenty metres behind the group in front of you, just so you're not able to listen in on their conversations. My assistant will be at the back to make sure that no-one gets hurt or slows down too much. So, get into your groups now!" Sycamore exclaimed, clapping twice, signalling for everyone to get into their groups.

Ash and Serena spotted Clemont and Bonnie, heading over to them with smiles.

Sycamore regained everyone's attention by talking again. "Now, everyone line up behind me!"

Everyone obliged, lining up behind Sycamore in their groups, around twenty metres apart from the group in front of them, just as Sycamore specified.

* * *

Then they started walking, for a while. Hours. Three hours before they turned back around, heading back towards the camp. They walked through fields, forests, up hills, down hills, and to the base of the Pokemon league's Victory Road before turning back.

By the time everyone returned to the camp, they were exhausted, immediately grabbing dinner before going back to their cabins to go to sleep, which was instructed by Sycamore. Everyone but Ash. Seeing as for the past year or so, he had been travelling around the regions of the world, five to be exact, he was used to walking all day. The hike for him was like a light jog to a marathon runner.

After dinner, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie lunged into bed, falling asleep after a few moments. Ash, however, couldn't sleep. He could only lay there and stare at the ceiling, praying to be euthanised as soon as possible. Even Pikachu was asleep, and he was riding on Ash's shoulder the entire time!

Tossing and turning for hours with no luck, Ash got out of bed and headed outside for a little while to get some fresh air before heading back inside, and, looking over to Serena. She looked so peaceful while she was asleep. That was when Ash realised that he'd never seen Serena asleep while not being in the same bed as her. If he'd had to describe it, he'd say that she's cute, but he'd never admit that to Serena. She'd flip out!

With a sigh, Ash walked over to her bed, leaning down until his face was inches above hers. She was lying on her side, one arm underneath the pillow her head was resting on, facing her other hand which was a few inches in front of her face. Ash took a deep breath, leaned down further, and then he kissed her on the cheek.

Ash pulled away quickly, shocked at his actions. He darted back across the room and into bed, wondering why he did it. If only he knew that Serena was awake.

* * *

 **OH, GOD! This is getting interesting! Before I wrote this chapter, I went back and read all of the past chapters to refresh myself on a few details, so you may have seen a few examples of extra details from past chapters being mentioned. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! Again, I always say that for practically no reason. Anyway, seeing as I have no reason to go and elongate this part of the chapter, mainly because hardly anyone will actually fully read this, I'm going to get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

Ash lay in bed, nervousness flooding his mind, destroying all rational thought. All Ash could think about was consequences like: 'What if she finds out and hates me forever?' 'What if Clemont or Bonnie saw?' 'Would they tell her?'

Forcing these thoughts out of his head, Ash closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Surely nothing bad would happen, right? She was asleep, and so were Clemont and Bonnie.

After a few moments of deep breathing, Ash finally fell asleep, leaving the worry behind. Serena, however, did not fall asleep for the rest of the night. All she could think about was that Ash kissed her. Sure, it was only on the cheek, but it was still a kiss!

* * *

As soon as the first ray of sunlight beamed through the window, Serena immediately hopped out of bed, hastily grabbing her things and taking a shower. Despite it being five AM and the day after a massive hike combined with her lack of sleep; Serena wasn't tired. In fact, she felt completely energetic.

After stepping out of the shower, Serena threw her clothes on, sprayed a little perfume, and left the bathroom. Seeing as she was only in there for ten minutes, everyone was still asleep.

Walking over to Ash's bed, Serena smiled, placing her hand on his cheek and rubbing it with her thumb. She was calm on the outside, but ecstatic on the inside. Ash kissed her! Maybe he loved her. Serena couldn't tell if it was him acting on impulse, or if it was thought out. Surely he thought that she was asleep. Or, maybe he knew. No. That couldn't be right.

Serena continued to stroke Ash's cheek before she had a little idea. Almost not knowing what she was doing, Serena threw back the covers and slid into bed next to Ash, resting her head a few inches away from his head before throwing the duvet back over them both.

Now that she was in bed again, Serena started to feel a little tired. She didn't originally want to fall asleep next to Ash, but it might not be the worst idea in the world. Hopefully, if he awoke to find Serena next to him, he wouldn't freak out. They've slept together twice before, and he was alright with it, or, at least, he seemed to be alright with it.

With a little sigh, Serena closed her eyes and nuzzled her head into the crook of Ash's neck, forcing him to move his head to let Serena in the gap. If Serena had to be honest with herself, she'd have to say that she loved the feeling of being so close to him. But, at the same time, she felt scared. It was hard to explain, but she could figure out that she was scared of being so close to getting with the boy she loved, quite literally as well, but the chance still being there that he didn't love her back. Even after he kissed her, Serena still felt like that. Maybe because he could have done it without thinking. She couldn't tell.

After a few moments, Serena's thoughts were interrupted by Ash starting to stir in his sleep. Panicking slightly, Serena threw herself out of the bed, flew the duvet back over Ash, and darted into the bathroom, pretending to wash her hands as Ash got up.

Confused, Ash walked up behind Serena and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Are you alright?"

Serena, although seeing Ash approach via the mirror, still jumped, spinning around. "Y-Yeah, of course! What are you doing up so early?"

Ash sighed. "Why are you also up? And dressed?"

"I couldn't sleep!" Serena suddenly exclaimed, hoping that she would be able to come up with a consistent string of lies.

"Okay," Ash murmured, before continuing. "Then can you tell me why you were in bed with me?"

Serena started to stutter, a blush forming on her face. "I-I j-just wanted to relive t-the warmth."

Ash smiled lightly, grabbing her hand. "You can just ask me if you want to cuddle with me, you know?"

Serena's eyes widened as Ash led her out of the bathroom and back to his bed, getting back in before Serena clambered in next to him, placing her head on his chest. "Thanks, Ash," Serena muttered, a massive smile covering her face.

"Anytime, Serena," Ash replied, closing his eyes, Serena following with the same actions.

* * *

Two hours later, both Ash and Serena woke up around the same time, both getting up before Ash went into the bathroom to get ready for the day. And, seeing as Serena had already showered, she just laid back down on the bed, waiting patiently for Ash to come out again, which he did after a few minutes.

By now, everyone was awake. Clemont and Bonnie had both woken up and were both dressed and ready for the day. Neither of them bothered to shower every single day, but, instead, every other. Both Ash and Serena disagreed with that, seeing as hygiene is important, but, at the same time, it isn't needed every day provided that there isn't a lot of activity.

"So, what time is it?" Ash asked nonchalantly, not caring who gave him the answer; he just desired one.

"It's twenty past seven," Bonnie responded, a cheery tone evident in her enthusiastic voice.

"Oh, really? It's still that early!?" Ash exclaimed, bewildered, to which all three nodded. "Wow."

"Well, seeing as we've got some spare time, why don't we go on a walk?" Serena suggested.

"Not another bloody walk!" Ash exclaimed immediately, dreading the idea of having to move his legs in front of the other every single second that passed.

Serena giggled at his response while both Clemont and Bonnie simultaneously agreed with Ash while also laughing their heads off, with Pikachu rolling around at the foot of Ash's bed, clutching his stomach just as he did on the day both he, Ash and Serena had arrived at the camp when he had shoved Ash's bag underneath the bed, much to the dismay of his raven-haired trainer.

"Moving away from that idea quickly," Clemont started, only just managing to get his words out in between little spurts of laughter he was experiencing. "Why don't we just go and talk to Sycamore? He can tell us about the activities for the day, and, at the same time, maybe he can tell us a bit more about why he started the camp."

"Actually, he can start telling us about why he started the camp," Bonnie corrected. "We don't know anything."

"You're both making this sound like a spy film," Ash muttered, letting only Serena and Pikachu hear, who ended up with little smirks on their faces, trying to not laugh.

Clemont noticed the struggling looks on their faces, gaining a look of his own: confusion. "What are you laughing about?"

"Correction," Serena started. "Trying not to laugh about."

At this, Ash grew the same kind of smirk, although, unlike the other two, couldn't contain his laughter seeing as he broke into a light chuckle a few seconds later.

A few moments of awkward silence passed by before Pikachu jumped off the bed, exclaiming his name a few times before pointing at the door; his way of saying: 'Well, come on, then!'

As if Pikachu were their trainer, Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie all left the cabin, closing the door behind them before heading over to the stage area where Sycamore was, adjusting the microphone stand.

"Hey, Professor!" Ash exclaimed as they approached, watching as Sycamore stood up and waved at the group of four.

"Well, this is a surprise! I wasn't expecting to see anyone out of their cabins this early!" Sycamore said, looking around, only to see that no-one else were out.

"Yeah, we all just ended up out of bed and ready quite early, so we decided to come and find out what we're doing today," Clemont explained, to which Sycamore put a single finger up, signalling for them to wait for a second while he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper; presumably with the timetable on, or something along those lines.

Sycamore unfolded the piece of paper, looking at it for a second before placing it back in his pocket, looking up at the four. "We'll be doing Ryhorn racing for the whole day."

Serena's eyes lit up for a brief moment before she regained composure. "Great!" She exclaimed. "Mum Ryhorn racing as a career, and she's taught me everything! I love it, so much!"

The group laughed, Sycamore included. "Well," he started. "That's great! Both my assistant and I have done it before, but we don't know everything," he said before coming up with an idea. "Serena, would you like to help my assistant and I with the other campers? You know, showing them the basics?"

Serena nodded ecstatically, almost as if she was anticipating the question. "I'd love to!"

"Great," Sycamore said before placing his hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you're willing. Otherwise, half of the people here would have to wait a long time to get onto the Ryhorn; and that's the easiest bit!"

Serena laughed, noticing that the other three weren't laughing at all. She turned to face them, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Your Mum's career is being a Ryhorn racer?" Clemont asked her, surprised.

"Yes?" Serena said, wondering what he was leading to.

"What's your last name, Serena?" Bonnie asked, confusing the honey-haired girl even more.

"Yvonne. Why?"

Both Bonnie and Clemont gasped, shocked. "You're the daughter of the most famous Ryhorn racer in the world!?"

"Most famous? No. She's got a load of trophies, but she's definitely not the most famous," Serena explained. "She told me herself."

"She was definitely being modest," Clemont said. "Grace Yvonne, right? That's your mother's name?"

Serena nodded as a response.

"She won the biggest tournament ever that was held on Ryhorn racing!" Bonnie exclaimed. "She's the most famous! And you are too because you're her daughter!"

Serena became even more confused. "If I'm famous, why have I never been interviewed or anything? No press taking my picture for the newspaper. Not even any taking a picture of Mum! I can't be famous!"

Sycamore placed his hand on Serena's shoulder again, causing her to look at him. "You are, Serena," he started. "But your mother faked her death before coming to Kalos."

"Faked her death?" Serena asked, bewildered.

"Yes. She became famous in Kanto. Everyone knew she was pregnant with you, but she faked her death before she gave birth to you. She stayed in Kanto, though; for about eight years, I believe, before she came to Kalos with you."

"Eight years?" Serena asked; everything was starting to make sense. "That's why I was forced to leave a week after the summer camp ended."

Serena looked over at Ash, who had also started to piece everything together.

"Well, thank you, Professor! We'll see you at eight!"

And, with that, the four of them headed back to their cabin.

* * *

 **There we go! If you're wondering why this chapter ended up so long, it's just because I wanted to get that information in here. So, now you know why Serena moved to Kalos. Well, that's only correct in this story, not the animé, seeing as Nintendo don't want to include death with something like Pokemon... Well... That's excluding all the graveyards. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter. Sorry, it's been a while since I last posted. I originally had almost all of this chapter ready, but my phone decided to be a dick and delete it all. I don't know why it does these things to me! Anyway, enjoy what I've had to write again.**

* * *

Serena's head was spinning. She couldn't believe that her mother was famous and she'd faked her own death! She guessed that most people would also be shocked if they suddenly found something like that out.

"You okay?" Ash asked her, placing a hand on Serena's shoulder to comfort her.

"Y-Yeah, just a bit shook," she replied, hoping he wouldn't realise that she was only stuttering because he touched her without warning.

Ash smiled a little. "Makes sense," he muttered. "I would be too."

The four of them entered the cabin. Serena sat down on her bed for a few moments before she grabbed her bag and hoisted it up onto the bed too. "Come on, guys! We need to change."

"Ugh. Do we have to?" Bonnie asked her, pouting a little at the thought of changing her clothes.

"Yes, Bonnie. We have to," Clemont said sternly, also pulling his bag up onto his bed.

"Fine," Bonnie muttered. She couldn't be bothered at all.

* * *

A few minutes later, everyone heard the announcement from Sycamore about what they were doing.

Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie all left their cabin moments later, heading over to Sycamore to wait for everyone else to change, or even just get out of bed.

"So, Professor, what am I supposed to do?" Serena asked him, only just remembering that she would be helping to teach.

" It's not that hard, really. Just stand in front of your portion of the campers and try to think about when you get on the Rhyhorn. Try to explain to them your exact technique, but try not to make the explanation boring. Otherwise, you'll get some kids losing interest and they probably won't listen," Sycamore explained. "Please tell me you listened to that even though it was boring."

Serena giggled a little. "Of course, I did, Professor. But could you please repeat that?" She asked with a little laugh, in turn causing Sycamore to laugh.

Ash watched this with a slight tinge of jealousy. He couldn't tell why. That was just Serena being Serena and joking around a little. But why did he feel jealous? Why could he possibly be afraid of losing Serena?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of cabin doors opening. Ash realised that most of the campers had already arrived.

Bonnie noticed look on Ash's face when he was thinking about Serena. She knew that he was thinking about her, as he kept glancing towards her while thinking. She tugged a little on Ash's leg. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Ash said quickly. "I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing important."

"Is it Serena?"

Ash blushed a little. "How did you know?"

"You kept looking at her while you were thinking. Come on, Ash! You're easier to read than a book."

Ash chuckled slightly, not really noticing the insult. Or was it an insult? Analysis?

Either way, he ignored it.

By now, everyone had arrived, standing there, waiting for Sycamore to start talking, which he did moments later.

"Okay, everyone. As you know, we are doing Rhyhorn racing today. And as most, if not all of you have most likely never done it before, I have another assistant to help who is actually very experienced: Serena!"

A clatter of applause flurried from the crowd, catching Serena off a little as she did a little bow.

"Right. So, the way we are going to do this is simple: I'm going to split this crowd in half; Serena will teach the side in front of her, and I will teach the side in front of me."

Everyone nodded as a response, showing that they understood.

Sycamore placed his palms together and lifted his arms up in front of him before walking into the crowd of campers, directing them as to where to go.

Ash ended up on Serena's side, while both Clemont and Bonnie were on the other side, meaning that neither he nor Serena would most likely be seeing them a lot for the rest of the day.

"Alright, everyone. All you need to do now is get chosen by a Rhyhorn. It's not hard, all you need to do is stand still, and when I call them here, all of you need to line up horizontally, and they will walk over to you when they choose you."

Everyone nodded as a response before Sycamore pulled out a whistle, blowing into it and creating the ear-splitting wail.

Not even a few seconds later, everyone could see a dust cloud in the distance, which was being created by the Rhyhorn running over.

Moments later, they had arrived and were stationed in front of everyone, who had all managed to line up in time.

As soon as all the Rhyhorn had arrived, they had started to choose their partner. Both Ash and Serena were immediately picked due to Ash's friendliness and Serena's experience with Rhyhorn.

A few moments later, everyone had been chosen. It happened quicker than anyone expected. "Okay!" Serena exclaimed, surprised at herself as she suddenly found her voice. "This can be slightly difficult, so listen carefully."

Everyone nodded as a response, also slightly taken aback at Serena's newly found confidence. "Place your palms and the Rhyhorn's neck, then swing your leg over the top. Seeing as Rhyhorn aren't the shortest Pokemon out there, you'll practically already be sitting on it. And that's all you have to do."

One of the campers put their hand up. "Um, miss? Should I call you that?"

"No," Serena said, giggling a little. "Just call me Serena."

"I don't think she'll mind if you call her cute, mate," Ash told him, causing everyone to laugh and making Serena blush a little.

"Ash! Shut up!" Serena exclaimed, covering her face with her hair.

"What? It's true."

Everyone went silent.

"A-Ash!" Serena exclaimed, a little embarrassed but a lot more flattered.

"Sorry," Ash said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"A-Anyway," Serena said before turning back to the camper. "What was it you wanted to say?"

"I wanted to ask why you said it's a little difficult."

"Well," Serena started. "I'm saying it's difficult because sometimes the Rhyhorn will get a little aggressive and try to shake you off it. So you need to be slow and gentle to not startle it."

Everyone nodded.

"Right," Serena said, taking a deep breath. "I'll give you a demonstration."

Carefully, Serena placed her palms on Rhyhorn's neck. It had been a little bit of time since she last mounted a Rhyhorn, therefore she had regained the little odd feeling of nervousness when there's no need to be nervous.

With another deep breath, Serena threw her leg over Rhyhorn, successfully manoeuvring herself in mid-air into the correct position before landing on Rhyhorn.

The crowd applauded, catching the attention of Sycamore and his group, who also applauded, despite almost all of them not seeing it.

"Thanks!" Serena exclaimed, sticking her tongue out at Ash, causing him to laugh a little.

"Right, it's time for you to do the same!"

* * *

 **There we go! Again, I'm sorry that this chapter took a while to post, but I was recently in London, so I didn't get the time to write, but, not only that, as you already know, my phone decided to delete everything I had already written... One-thousand words. It's a long story, but basically, I was going to copy and paste it from Grammarly to email so I could add to it while offline, but after I selected everything, the keyboard randomly popped up and, (because my phone is so old that the screen randomly does things without me telling it to,) my phone decided to hit backspace, and there was no way to undo what happened. So, I've written half of this chapter offline. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! I'm glad that I'm back this soon. If you read the last chapter, which I highly recommend, as otherwise, you won't understand anything in this chapter, you'll know that it took me a good week to get that chapter up, as I had so many difficulties, technical or not. Anyway, enough about that, let's get to the chapter!**

* * *

The first few people who managed to successfully mount their Rhyhorn spent the next few minutes gloating about it while watching the other campers fail, much to the disdain of said campers a few moments later.

"Okay, okay!" Serena exclaimed, causing everyone to stop in their tracks. "I can see that a lot of you are struggling, but keep trying! I'll come around and help you!"

The campers nodded, proceeding to continue their attempts.

Serena walked over to Ash, feeling as though he needed the most help, as his Rhyhorn would always run a few paces forwards before stopping at the exact same time as Ash left the ground, causing him to land in a very painful position every time, being the "splits."

"I see you're having a bit of trouble, Ash," Serena said with a giggle as she walked over.

"More than a bit, Serena," Ash replied, slightly annoyed, but knowing that he didn't want to show it, as, Serena being Serena, would probably think that he was annoyed with her, which he wasn't.

"Here, I'll help," Serena said, walking over to the Rhyhorn.

"What are you going to do?" Ash asked, wondering how she was "helping."

"I'm going to try to calm it down and get it used to your touch. That way, it won't get so scared when you try to mount it."

"Okay," Ash said slowly. "How are you going to get it used to my touch? Do I need to do anything?"

"Let me calm it down first," Serena said, giggling a little. She reached out and placed her hand on the Rhyhorn's head, slowly petting and stroking it until it seemed to relax.

Serena proceeded to lead the Rhyhorn over to Ash, noting that it was getting a little cautious, most likely because it wasn't comfortable with him as he was previously trying to ride it.

"Just reach out slowly and do what I did," Serena told Ash, grabbing his hand which caused them both to blush before she placed it on the Rhyhorn's head.

Ash started to do the same as Serena did previously, petting it and stroking it, causing the Rhyhorn's face to become one of relaxing and contentment instead of fearful.

"Okay," Serena started. "Now all you need to do is try and mount it, but go slower this time."

Ash nodded, moving his hands to the Rhyhorn's neck, and, with a deep breath, managed to successfully mount the Rhyhorn, earning a cheer from the few people watching.

"Well done, Ash!" Serena exclaimed, going to hug him before stopping herself. Not only would it make the situation awkward, but it wouldn't work anyway seeing as Ash was now at least two foot taller than her thanks to being on a Rhyhorn.

"Thanks!" Ash exclaimed, clearly excited that he managed to do it correctly. "I couldn't have done it without your help though, Serena."

This caused Serena to blush a little, but she smiled at him nonetheless. "It's what I'm here to do, Ash."

A few moments of awkward silence passed between the two before Ash spoke up. "Well, you should probably get to helping everyone else," he told her, gesturing to the other campers who were still struggling.

Serena nodded begrudgingly, not wanting to have to leave Ash, but walking away anyway.

* * *

An hour later, everyone had gotten onto their Rhyhorn and had been taught how to control it. By now, they were all ready for the racing aspect of the day.

"Okay, everyone!" Sycamore exclaimed, gaining everyone's attention. "Seeing as we all know how to successfully mount a Rhyhorn, now is time for the races. I have a hat here and inside the hat is a load of small pieces of paper. Each bit of paper has a different name on it, and I'm going to draw out four at a time, and the four that I pull out will be racing against each other. We won't be doing this like a tournament, as that may happen some other time, but we will make sure that everyone gets to race."

Everyone cheered hearing that, as they all knew that no-one would be ready for a tournament yet, but they all wanted to race. The only concern was having to race against Serena, as that would practically make it an instant loss.

Sycamore pulled four pieces of paper out of the hat and read out the names. "Matthew, Thomas, Lilly and Dex. You four are racing first."

Those four campers rode their Rhyhorn over to the starting line, making sure that no-one was an inch in front of the others.

"The end of the race is over here. What you need to do, is ride down this track," Sycamore said, pointing at the track which the four campers were ready to race down. "It's about one-hundred metres long, and when you get the end, you can see that it turns and connects to halfway down the track. When you start the race, keep going straight forward until you need to turn. We don't want any head-on collisions."

The riders nodded for a second before Sycamore blew his whistle, meaning that the race had started.

The four caused their Rhyhorn to lunge forward, each one attempting to get in front of the other.

The turn was coming up and by the time they were all on their way back, Dex was in the lead with Lilly close behind him.

Not even a few seconds later, Lilly had over-taken Dex and passed the finish line, meaning that she had won.

The other campers cheered as she finished, waiting patiently for Matthew to finish, as his Rhyhorn was constantly trying to go faster than he's like.

"The winner is Lilly!" Sycamore exclaimed, causing more cheering and applause.

* * *

The same format followed for a few hours. Only three or four races after the first one, everyone went to get lunch before coming back to continue. Surprisingly, Ash, Serena, Clemont or Bonnie hadn't been picked to race yet, until...

"Ash, Clemont, Serena and Bonnie!"

The four of them looked at Sycamore in shock. What were the chances that the four of them would be racing together?

The four of them stood up, got on their Rhyhorn, and rode them over to the starting line, ready to race.

* * *

 **Wow! What are the chances of that happening? Very high chances, actually, because no matter what, I was going to make it happen. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter, as you can see! If you don't know, recently I've been somewhat slacking off from writing. I have my reasons, though! I've been busy making videos and things, but, now, I'm done with all of that stuff for a little bit, because I've finished filming everything for one channel, and I only have to make three videos for my Pokemon dedicated YouTube channel, which is called POKEGOLD290, by the way, in case you want to check it out. Why am I telling you all this? Because I have a reveal to make: I'm going to try and post a chapter or two every week! I can't promise everything, but I'm going to try. So, be excited about that. Oh, and in case some of you were thinking I might be losing enthusiasm for writing, that's not the case. I'm not quitting any time soon, I was just a little busy. Something like that will most likely happen every month or so. Anyway! Enough of this! Let's get to the chapter!**

* * *

"Ready, set, go!"

Those words from Sycamore's mouth marked the start of the race. Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie all sprung forward on their Rhyhorn.

Charging towards the first turn, the four of them were neck to neck, even Clemont, who was previously struggling to ride his Rhyhorn.

As soon as they turned the corner, Clemont started to lag behind the other three, with Serena in the lead, Bonnie behind her, and Ash a few inches behind Bonnie.

As soon as the last stretch started, Ash passed Bonnie, meaning that it was between him and Serena.

It seemed as if Ash was going to win, but in the last second, Serena rushed past him and crossed the finish line, winning the race before skidding to a halt.

"Serena is the winner!" Sycamore exclaimed, causing the crowd to cheer. While it was obvious to many that Serena would win, as she had the most Rhyhorn racing experience out of everyone in the camp, everyone also thought that Ash put up a good fight.

Clemont and Bonnie stopped a few seconds later, hopping off their Rhyhorn for a few moments, as Sycamore called the four racers over to talk to him.

"You four were great out there, you know," Sycamore told them, causing Serena and Clemont to blush, and Ash and Bonnie to look confused, knowing that it wasn't really that hard.

"It wasn't hard, Professor," Ash said nonchalantly.

"It was so difficult for me, though," Clemont said.

Sycamore laughed. "It's a difficult thing to do unless you've got natural talent," he said. "Anyway, go and sit with everyone else."

The four obliged, walking over and sitting together next to the other campers, who immediately started to indulge the four with questions about the race, much to the dismay of them when their questions were turned down.

"Sorry, I don't know how I did it, so I can't answer anything," Ash told them, to which both Clemont and Bonnie nodded in agreement, with Serena staying quiet as an excuse like that wouldn't make sense for her, especially since she has been taught by her mother, the famous Rhyhorn racer.

* * *

A few hours later, everyone had finished racing, and everyone had eaten dinner. Clemont and Bonnie had already gone to bed and fallen asleep, but Ash and Serena had decided to go out and spend some time together, just relaxing on a bench.

"I like this breeze," Serena said nonchalantly, closing her eyes and leaning back, enjoying it to its fullest.

"Yeah, it's nice," Ash said, agreeing with her.

Serena smiled, placing her hand on Ash's and squeezing it lightly.

"S-Serena! W-What are you doing?!" Ash exclaimed, retracting his arm quickly in shock.

"S-Sorry!" Serena blurted out. "I thought it would be nice!"

A moment of awkward silence passed between the two of them before Ash grabbed Serena's hand and interlocked his fingers with hers.

"A-Ah! What are you doing?" Serena asked, confused as to why he decided to do that.

"You're right," Ash muttered, turning to look at her. "It is nice."

Now blushing, Serena smiled at him before closing her eyes and resting her head on Ash's shoulder. If they were going to do one thing, they might as well do more.

Ash chuckled a little, resting his head on hers, enjoying the time they were spending together before Serena spoke.

"Can we sleep together again tonight, Ash?"

Ash blushed a little, lifting his head up to look Serena in the eyes. "Anything for you, Serena."

Smiling, Serena stood up, pulling Ash up to before leading him back to the cabin. "I'm not going to waste any time, Ash. I want to spend as much time with you as possible."

Ash laughed a little before he finally realised something. "Um, Serena," Ash started, stopping in his tracks, causing Serena to turn and look at him.

"Yeah?"

"What are we?"

This question took Serena by surprise, as she looked at him, clearly confused. "What do you mean, Ash?"

Ash sighed, looking down. "Well, we're clearly more than friends, but we're not together. So, I was wondering about what we actually are."

Serena blushed. "We're friends with benefits, I guess."

"Would you be okay with us being more?" Ash asked her, looking her straight in the eyes.

Serena almost squealed in delight as she dashed forwards and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Are you asking me out?!" She asked him, waiting for the answer.

"No?" Ash said, confused, causing Serena to pull away and look at him. "I'm just asking if you'd be okay with it."

Serena felt embarrassed. "Oh," she muttered, looking down at the floor. "W-Well, I'd love it, honestly."

"Oh, okay," Ash said nonchalantly before walking away into the cabin and to bed, leaving Serena standing out there more confused than ever. What was all that about?

She turned around and raced into the cabin, quickly darting into the bathroom to get changed. She wasn't sure, but she guessed that she would still be sleeping with Ash.

* * *

When she came back out, Ash greeted her, gesturing at the space next to him, letting Serena know that it would be okay for her to get in with him.

Serena hopped in, pulling the covers over them both and resting her head on his chest, nuzzling her head into it a little before closing her eyes.

"Goodnight, Serena," Ash said, closing his eyes.

"Goodnight, Ash."

* * *

The next morning, everyone in the camp was awoken by a very loud announcement booming across the entire campsite, startling most people, and confusing others.

"Everyone, get up now. We're all going for an early morning jog!"

Begrudgingly, everyone got out of bed, quickly throwing on some clothes before leaving.

Sycamore, knowing that he was going to be greeted by some groggy people, had prepared a load of coffee in paper cups, which everyone gratefully accepted.

Four hours was how long they jogged for that morning, much to the dismay of everyone, especially since they woke up at eight, so they were still slightly tired.

* * *

When they all finally returned to the camp, they had lunch and Sycamore told them to relax for two or so hours, so they did just that, getting called out again at two-o-clock for the next activity.

"So, seeing as we have maybe six hours to do something, we will be doing something that won't take too long: a Pokémon spotting activity," Sycamore told everyone before going on to explain. "You will split up into groups consisting of your cabin roommates and go into the forest. Every group will have a camera, and you need to try and take the most amount of pictures. You can take one picture per Pokémon, and you can all have one Pokémon per person in case you get attacked. When I blow my whistle in three hours, you will come back here. Understood?"

Everyone nodded.

Sycamore and his assistant handed every group a camera and blew a whistle when they were finished, meaning that the activity had started.

* * *

 **There we go! Another chapter! As you may have noticed, this chapter is slightly longer than the last one, and that's because I'm not in a rush to get this one out. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! It's not long after I posted the last one. In fact, I'm writing this directly after posting the last chapter. It feels as if I've got the opposite of 'writer's-block,' because I have the overwhelming urge to spew out more and more words. Anyway, enough with all that, let's get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

Everyone ran forward, each group dispersing from the crowd gradually. Seeing as everyone had a Pokémon with them, most people realised that they could most likely snap a picture of the Pokémon with the other groups. However, some people caught onto this and kept their Pokémon in their Pokeballs; a strategy that Ash and Pikachu could not use due to the fact that Pikachu loathed his Pokeball more than everything.

"So, what's the plan?" Clemont asked Ash, knowing that he had the most knowledge about Pokémon out of the four of them.

"We should jog around, and if you hear any noise that isn't from us, you should signal for the rest of us to stop," Ash said, addressing the three of them.

Serena, Clemont and Bonnie nodded, signalling that they understood before the four of them started jogging off, with Clemont comedically starting to jog in the wrong direction before realising the error he had made and rejoining the other three.

* * *

Three hours later, Sycamore blew his whistle and everyone returned, some scratched a little from all the branches and brambles.

"So, did you all get some good pictures?" Sycamore asked the campers, to which they all nodded, some of the groups holding up their cameras as if Sycamore could telekinetically see the images captured by said cameras.

* * *

Three hours later, Sycamore and his assistant had gone through all of the pictures, choosing the best one and calling everyone back, as they had gone for a three-hour long break while they waited.

"So, we have chosen the best picture, or, at least, the best picture in our opinion, which actually has three Pokémon in it," Sycamore said before showing a bigger version of the picture, to which everyone applauded.

The picture showed a birdseye view, presumably taken from the top of a tree, of a Zigzagoon laying on it's back, a Fletchling halfway across the frame, flying to another tree, and a Shellos resting in a small pond that was visible in the top-left corner.

"It has come to my attention that Harry's group owns this picture," Sycamore said, to which a kid around the age of eight stood up along with the other three members of his group.

Everyone applauded them again, watching as the group made their way up to the front to shake hands with Sycamore before Sycamore told everyone to go and get dinner before the end of the day.

* * *

Four hours later, everyone was in bed, Ash and Serena included, in separate beds this night, as they had decided that if they were to get used to it, they'd want to do it more often, and then there would be a big problem when they went on their journey after the camp, as two people in one sleeping bag doesn't work well, presuming that the sleeping bag is regular size.

The night went by quickly, everyone getting out of their cabins at ten for their activity. People got coffee and had their breakfast before everyone headed over to Sycamore to hear about the activity for the day.

"Okay," Sycamore said as everyone approached. "Today, we will be doing an exciting activity, and this activity will last all day, with breaks for lunch and dinner along with an hour-long break in the middle to give you all a rest."

People looked confused, unsure about what the activity could possibly be. But that question would be answered a few moments later.

"We, me and my assistant, have created a few obstacle courses over the time that the camp has been running, and by a few, I mean five," Sycamore explained, causing some people to look shocked, as they must have been up since five AM every day to make five obstacle courses; maybe even earlier than that. "Today, you will all do the obstacle courses, and you will do each of them twice, the first time you go across them, you will be making up your own path by trying to figure out the best way to get through it, and the second time, you will be timed."

A buzz of excitement flew through the crowd as they were all led over to the first obstacle course.

"Um, Ash," Serena started, a random question popping into her head.

"Yeah?" Ash asked.

"How long have we been here?" Serena questioned, scratching her head as she tried to figure it out.

"This is the fifth day, I think," Ash said.

"It is?" Clemont piped up, trying to figure it out. "The first day was spent getting to know everyone and settling in, the second day was archery, the third day was Rhyhorn racing, the fourth was that jog and taking pictures of Pokémon, and that was yesterday, so... Yeah! This is the fifth day!"

"When does the camp end?" Serena asked him, thinking she knew the answer, but unsure.

"Sunday night," Clemont said. "It's Friday now."

"Oh, okay," Serena muttered, noticing that the first course was right in front of Sycamore before he turned around to address everyone.

"Here we are! This is the first course, and, as you can see, it's quite short, only fifty metres long, in fact. That's why we've chosen it to be the first one; it acts like a warm-up."

Some of the campers nodded emotionlessly, some others gawped at the course, wondering how they'd get through it, while others like Ash and Bonnie looked more excited than ever.

"Um, Ash! How about you go first? I understand that you've got a lot of experience with travelling around the regions, so you must have been put to the test of Parkour at some point?" Sycamore asked him, pointing at Ash and gesturing for him to come over to the front.

"Sure! It looks exciting," Ash said, chuckling a little.

"Okay, place your non-dominant foot on the starting line," Sycamore instructed, to which Ash obliged. "Oh, by the way, all of these courses are made out of concrete, slabs and blocks of them used together to make it better. Don't worry, though! If you don't want to try, you don't have to," Sycamore said, addressing the crowd before turning back to Ash. "Are you okay with risking the chance of getting hurt?"

Ash gulped but nodded, knowing that he didn't have the best luck in the world.

"Okay," Sycamore said before turning to the crowd. "Countdown with me. From three!"

"Three!" Everyone shouted. Ash stiffened. "Two!" Ash bent forwards, ready to spring forwards using his left foot. "One!" Ash took a deep breath. "Go!"

He darted forwards, running up the ramp and jumping across a gap onto a bar, placing a hand onto the bar and kicking his legs off, landing on the ground gracefully. Ash kept on running, jumping and kicking off a wall before grabbing onto the top of said wall, pulling himself up in more moments before dropping three times, each time landing on a block a metre lower than the last. Finally, he made the last jump, going over the last gap and grabbing onto the wall and pulling himself up and over, landing on the slanted concrete and sliding down, running the last five metres before crossing the finish line.

The crowd applauded, a few people like Serena slightly shocked as they didn't know Ash was so agile. Sure, he had travelled across five regions, but seriously?!

"Well done, Ash! That was very impressive," Sycamore said, congratulating him. "I actually timed that, and you got through the whole thing in twenty seconds!"

This earned more applause from the crowd, who were shocked at that, for obvious reasons.

"Right, seeing as we don't need to time you, you don't have to go again, but you can if you want to," Sycamore said, to which Ash nodded.

"I think I can go faster than that."

* * *

 **There we go! Another chapter! As you now know due to part of this chapter, the camp is almost over. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! It's not long after I posted the last one. In fact, I'm writing this directly after posting the last chapter. Yes, that is the exact same thing that started off the last chapter. Anyway, let's get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

After Ash ran again, managing to beat his previous time by two seconds, some of the other campers went too, then Serena threw her hand up after Ash telling her that it wasn't too bad, and was actually really fun, the adrenaline rush especially.

"Okay, Serena's up now!" Sycamore announced as Serena made her way over to the starting line. She had analysed the paths the other people took and had already figured out her route.

"Go!"

Serena ran forwards, up the ramp before climbing up a ledge, running on top of the block before having to balance her way across the top of a thin wall, jumping off halfway onto a slanted piece of concrete, sliding down before continuing to run. Only moments later, she was climbing up the second to last wall, and after she stood up, she jumped over to another ledge, dropping off the end and onto another block, one of the ones Ash jumped on previously. She dropped the rest of the way and ran, grabbing onto a rope and pulling herself up the ramp that was almost vertical with it, before pushing across and onto the top of the last wall, sliding down and running to the finish, completely out of breath. She couldn't believe Ash was completely fine after doing it before.

"Serena, that was very good. Your time was forty seconds. Would you like to do it again?" Sycamore asked her, to which Serena shook her head vigorously, unable to talk through her short, fast breaths.

Sycamore nodded before Serena went to sit down again. She sat down next to Ash, who laughed a little at her state. "Want a drink?" He asked her, holding up his bottle of water, to which Serena nodded, gratefully taking the bottle and taking two big sips, not realising that she just indirectly kissed Ash, as he had taken a swig from the same bottle while she was doing the course.

"T-Thanks," Serena blurted out, still slightly out of breath, handing the bottle back to Ash, who smiled as he took it. He had realised that she had indirectly kissed him, but he didn't care. He had actually kissed her! On the cheek, but still!

* * *

The next two hours passed by quickly. Everyone who was willing to do the courses had done the first two, with everyone else not participating watching intently.

"Well, it's time for lunch, everyone!" Sycamore announced, watching as the campers stood up and entered the caféteria for lunch.

Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie greedily nommed their food, taking no time to finish before they left the room, heading back to their cabin to relax for the rest of the hour.

"So, Ash," Clemont started, looking over at him from his bed. "How are you so quick?"

"What?" Ash asked, looking back at him, a look of confusion etched onto his face.

"The obstacle courses! How are you so quick at getting through them?" Clemont exclaimed, desperate to know the answer.

"I've just got a load of experience. Nothing else!" Ash said, getting slightly annoyed.

"Oh, come on! That's not the only reason, I can tell!" Serena exclaimed, getting off her bed and heading over to Ash, pulling him up before turning around to face her, Clemont and Bonnie.

"What are you doing?" Ash asked her, confused.

"Now, let's see what's under here," Serena murmured, giggling a little before pulling up Ash's shirt, revealing his abs.

"W-What are you doing?!" Ash exclaimed, pulling his shirt back down quickly before pushing Serena onto her bed.

Serena giggled again along with Bonnie while Clemont was slightly confused as to what happened.

Ash, not really caring about what happened, started to laugh too, causing Clemont to start laughing as well.

* * *

Five hours later, everyone participating in the obstacle courses had gone through the first four, meaning that there was only one left.

"So! Who's going to participate in this one?" Sycamore asked, pointing at the obstacle course which looked like a death trap. Sycamore, knowing that only the most athletic people at the camp would have enough energy to keep going, had designed the last course to be the most difficult, with the lowest ledges being ten foot high, and the highest being around twenty.

Everyone was silent. Everyone apart from one raven-haired trainer.

"Yeah, I'll do it," Ash said, not knowing why half the camp gasped or why Serena suddenly grabbed him and hugged him tighter than ever.

"Okay, but, Ash. Do you realise that there is a serious risk of getting hurt, or, dare I say it, death?" Sycamore asked him, to which Ash nodded, causing Serena to tighten her grip, even more, much to Ash's distaste.

Sycamore sighed. "Go on, then."

Serena begrudgingly let go of Ash, telling him to be careful before he made his way over to the starting line.

"Three! Two! One! Go!"

Ash ran forward, vaulting over a thin block before kicking off a wall straight after it, grabbing onto the top and pulling himself up before jumping and grabbing onto a metal bar that was suspended in mid-air by two massive walls. Swinging back and forth a few times, Ash proceeded to let go, sending himself flying towards the top of another block which he landed on, quickly sliding down the slanted edge on the other side before kicking off, launching himself mid-slide and onto another ledge which he had the option of sliding past, but decided not to as this route would save him some time. He ran before jumping off the end, landing on the top of a bar which he quickly jumped off, landing on a block a few feet lower, using the standard parkour roll to absorb the impact when he landed. Finally, he slid down the last slanted piece of concrete and ran across the finish line.

Everyone let out a deep breath when Ash finished, unscathed. Some people, mainly Serena, feared that he would slip or miscalculate a jump and smash his head into the concrete, but, luckily, that didn't happen. Even Sycamore seemed shaken.

"Well done, Ash!" Sycamore exclaimed, grabbing his wrist and holding his arm in the air. "You got through that in thirty seconds!"

The crowd applauded and cheered, causing Ash to blush a little at the massively positive response to his skills.

* * *

A few hours later, all of the campers were asleep. Serena had demanded that she would be sleeping with Ash after the chance of losing him. In fact, she clung to him as if she was going to die if she let go.

"I'm staying with you tonight!" Serena exclaimed, grabbing onto Ash's arm and clinging to it.

"Why?" Ash asked, already knowing the answer.

"You could've died today! And I don't want you to die..."

They stood out in the cold, dark, silent night for a few minutes, Serena sobbing into Ash's chest.

"Okay," Ash said eventually, breaking the silence before leading her into the cabin and to bed.

* * *

 **There we go! The fifth day is done! Only one more day of activities and then the last day will be random things. Well, that's what I think it will be now. I might get a better idea when I come to write that part of the story. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! It's not long after I posted the last one. In fact, I'm writing this directly after posting the last chapter. Yes, that is the exact same thing that started off the last chapter. Anyway, let's get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

Ash woke up, feeling the tight grip from Serena, who had already woken up and remembered the day before.

"Serena," Ash muttered, getting her attention, to which Serena raised her head from Ash's chest.

"Morning, Daredevil," Serena whispered, adjusting her position, kneeling on the bed with her knees on either side of Ash, her face a few inches from Ash's.

"S-Serena," Ash muttered, chuckling lightly.

"I like being this close to you," Serena murmured before kissing Ash on the cheek, causing him to freak out a little, pushing Serena off him playfully.

"Hey!" Serena exclaimed, grabbing the quilt and throwing it over Ash's head.

"I knew you two were dating!"

Ash pulled the covers off his head as Serena turned around, both of them looking at a smiling Bonnie.

"That was really cute!" She exclaimed, giggling a little.

"W-We're not dating!" Ash exclaimed, looking at Serena who was blushing madly.

"Then why did Serena kiss you?" Bonnie asked, looking confused.

"I just wanted to show him how much I care," Serena blurted out, trying to think of an excuse.

"Okay," Bonnie said slowly, contemplating whether or not she should believe Serena, which she decided to do for the time being.

The first rays of sunlight broke through the windows curtains, showing Ash, Serena and Bonnie that it was time to get ready for the last day of activities.

* * *

"Okay!" Sycamore shouted when they all got outside. "Today's activity is the last big one of the camp, and it is Pokémon battling!"

The campers cheered, even the people with no Pokémon to battle with, as watching battles is as entertaining as participating in the battles.

"So, what I'm going to do is ask all of you with a Pokémon to go to the left," Sycamore said, pointing to his right, but left for everyone facing him. "And I'm going to ask for everyone who doesn't have a Pokémon with you to go the right," Sycamore instructed, again, pointing the wrong way for him, but the right way for the campers.

Everyone dispersed, about three-quarters of all the campers went to their right, letting Sycamore know that the vast majority of people didn't have a Pokémon with them, leaving ten other campers with Pokémon to do the activity. Enough to make a small tournament out of it.

"Okay," Sycamore said, looking over at everyone who had a Pokémon. "Now, who's here?" He mumbled, letting out the little rhetorical question before looking down at a list he had in his hands. "Okay, Ash, Clemont, David, Anthony, Harry, Georgia, Jasmine, Elisha, Jimmy and Greg. You're all battling?"

They all nodded.

"Okay, then. Follow me to the battlefield," Sycamore told them all before leading all forty-or-so campers through the forest and down some somewhat camouflaged stairs, going underground and into a massive gymnasium-style room after a minute of going down.

The campers gawped at the room, marvelling at how such a big space was there with no-one mentioning it.

Sycamore led everyone without a Pokémon into the bleachers and turned to address the battlers.

"Okay, so, the way we're going to work this is like a tournament. I'm going to write your names on some paper, put them into a hat and randomly draw the names. I'll draw two at a time, and the names of the people I draw will be battling against each other, okay?"

The ten of them nodded, to which Sycamore nodded in return before heading over to the bleachers to let everyone else know the plan, to which they all nodded too.

Sycamore left the gymnasium, coming back five minutes-or-so later with a hat; ten pieces of paper donning the names of the battlers on them.

"Okay!" Sycamore exclaimed, shaking the hat a little to jumble them up more. "I'm going to draw two names, and they will battle. I'll do that five times, and then there will be five left. Four of those five will battle in twos and the winner of one of those battles will battle the third person left. The winner of that will battle the last person left, and the winner of that is the winner of our makeshift tournament."

The spectators cheered a little for some reason as Sycamore drew the first two names.

"David and Jasmine."

* * *

The battles went by quickly. Both Ash and Clemont won all their battles, and, by now, they were both about to battle each other.

"Go on, Pikachu!"

"I choose you, Luxray!"

"Begin!" Sycamore shouted.

"Pikachu, start this off with Quick Attack!" Ash exclaimed, pointing at Luxray.

Pikachu darted forwards, bounding across the floor, slamming into Luxray with incredible speed, almost knocking the black and blue lion to the floor.

"Quick! Get it with Bite!" Clemont shouted, watching as Luxray jumped forwards and bit down, just catching Pikachu's tail as he was attempting to run away.

"Iron Tail!" Ash shouted, to which Pikachu obliged, turning his tail to solid iron, causing Luxray's teeth to hurt drastically as it was biting down with as much force as it could muster. "Now jump in the air and use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu pulled away from Luxray before launching himself up to the ceiling, spinning as he fired a powerful bolt of electricity towards the other electric type.

As it hit, Luxray screamed in pain. Despite it also being an electric type, it took a substantial amount of damage from the attack, as Pikachu was a decently strong Pokémon.

"Use Ice Fang!" Clemont commanded, just hoping he could deal enough damage before Luxray would faint.

The attack connected with Pikachu, causing the yellow mouse to take some damage and get cold.

"Use Quick Attack to dart around the room. It'll warm you up!" Ash shouted, to which Pikachu did just that, sprinting around until it warmed up. "Now hit Luxray with it!"

Pikachu collided with Luxray, actually causing the Pokémon to fall over this time due to the amount of extra speed.

"Luxray is unable to battle! Ash is the winner!" Sycamore exclaimed, pointing at Ash.

Everyone applauded Ash's victory and sympathised about Clemont's loss. Ash and Clemont walked over to each other and shook hands before everyone left the battle arena, healing their Pokémon and going to get dinner.

* * *

Later that night, everyone was ready for the next day. They had been told by Sycamore that it would merely consist of two very small activities, as the camp would end sometime in the afternoon.

Everyone was sound asleep by now. Everyone except for Bonnie.

Bonnie, being unable to sleep, knew the reason why. She had a question for Serena that she needed the answer to.

Getting out of bed, she walked over to where Serena was sleeping and shook her awake. "Wake up," she whispered. "I need to talk to you."

Serena stirred, finally waking up after a few moments. "What is it?" She asked groggily.

"I need to ask you something," Bonnie replied.

"Go on, then."

"You said you're not in a relationship with Ash," Bonnie started, to which Serena nodded. "But do you have a crush on him?"

Serena blushed, looking over at Ash for a second, before turning back to Bonnie to answer her question. "Yes."

* * *

 **There we go! Another chapter is done! I've posted a chapter every day for three days now. Don't expect it to be like this normally. I've just had the urge to write a lot. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! It's not long after I posted the last one. In fact, I'm writing this directly after posting the last chapter. Yes, that is the exact same thing that started off the last chapter. Anyway, let's get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

When the morning came around, Sycamore decided to let everyone sleep in, meaning that everyone got up at around eleven AM, due to the fact that everyone was still exhausted from getting up early.

Ash stirred, slowly waking up to the sunlight blinding him. "W-What time is it?" Ash muttered to no-one in particular, looking over at the clock and seeing that it was eleven-o'clock.

He slid out of bed, knowing that there was no rush seeing as he couldn't hear anyone else up. Grabbing some clothes and taking them into the bathroom, having a quick shower before coming out a few minutes later to see that no-one was up yet.

Sighing a little, he left the cabin, deciding to walk around a little to see if there was anyone else up, to which he found two other campers doing the same thing.

* * *

When he returned to the cabin, Ash found that Clemont had gotten out of bed and was in the bathroom, leaving both Bonnie and Serena to sleep.

"Well, they can't stay in bed forever," Ash murmured to himself, heading over to Serena's bed to shake her awake first. "Come on, Serena. Time to get up."

Serena shook her head, pulling the covers over her face. "No, I don't want to get up!"

Ash laughed a little before ripping the covers out of Serena's hands and throwing them off her, much to her disdain.

"Ash!" Serena exclaimed, slightly annoyed.

"It's time to get up," Ash said calmly, taken by surprise when Serena grabbed him and pulled him on top of her.

"What are you doing?" Ash asked her through a little bit of laughter.

"Well, if I can't have the duvet, then you'll have to keep me warm," Serena said sternly before squeezing him tightly.

Ash whimpered a little, making Serena notice how hard she was squeezing him, letting Ash go a little. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Ash muttered, managing to wriggle out of Serena's grasp, pulling her off the bed.

"Why do I have to get up?" Serena asked Ash, going to get back in bed before Ash stopped her.

"Because it's half-past Eleven, now."

Serena looked at the clock only to find that what Ash was saying was true. "But, why didn't Sycamore wake us up?"

Ash shrugged. "I don't know," he muttered, almost quiet enough that Serena didn't hear him.

By now, Bonnie was starting to stir, her eyelids popping open in an instant.

"Morning, Bonnie," Clemont said as he walked out of the bathroom. "And good morning to you, Serena."

"Morning, Clemont," Serena replied, smiling at him.

Serena proceeded to grab her clothes and head into the bathroom for a shower and to get dressed.

"So, what do you think we'll be doing today?" Bonnie asked Ash and Clemont, seeing that it was half-eleven and the camp was ending sometime in the afternoon, so, they couldn't be doing any massive activity.

"I don't know," Clemont said, shrugging.

"Well, the summer camp that Serena and I went to when we were younger had a day as short as this for the last one, and all that happened was mediocre; the leader awarded the campers with medals for various things, and then after that, they took a picture of everyone together," Ash explained. "So, it might be the same thing here."

"Maybe that's it, then," Bonnie muttered before sliding out of bed, gathering her clothes and walking over to the bathroom door, waiting outside for Serena to come out so she could go in.

A few moments later, Serena came out of the bathroom, letting Bonnie go in as Ash and Clemont greeted her.

"So, I have a question," Serena said, gaining Ash and Clemont's attention.

"Yeah?" They both said in unison.

"Do you have any idea about what we're doing today?"

Ash proceeded to explain the same thing that he told both Clemont and Bonnie, Serena agreeing with him. "Yeah, that seems likely," she replied, nodding.

A few seconds later, Bonnie came out of the bathroom, confusing the three of them. "Did you even have a shower?" Clemont asked her, to which she shook her head.

"No, I'll have one tonight when we get home."

Clemont sighed. "I'm trying to get you to have them daily; every morning."

"Well, it is daily, which is better than not being daily," Serena said nonchalantly, Clemont agreeing quietly.

Just then, an announcement rang across the camp: Sycamore telling everyone to meet him at the podium to discuss the rest of the day.

The four of them left the cabin, arriving at the podium to be greeted by Sycamore setting up a microphone.

"So," he started when everyone arrived. "As you all know, today is the last day of the camp and the camp actually ends at three-o'clock, so, we're not going to do a lot. If you've been to a camp similar to this one," Sycamore said, glancing at Ash and Serena for a moment. "Then you may know that the last day's activities are merely an award ceremony and taking a picture of all the campers together," Sycamore continued. "Oh, and, of course, you're all going to have to pack your belongings at some point."

Ash and Serena, along with a handful of other campers nodded slightly, not enough for everyone to notice, but enough for Sycamore to see that some of them understood and knew exactly what he was talking about.

"So," Sycamore said. "We're going to start off by packing everything that you own. Make sure you don't forget anything. After that, we'll do the award ceremony, just so whoever wins an award can hold it up in the picture."

Everyone nodded before dispersing, heading back to their cabins to start packing.

Ash led Serena, Clemont and Bonnie back into their cabin before immediately grabbing his bag and folding any clothes that were loose, neatly placing them inside his bag, the others doing the same.

* * *

As soon as they were finished, they headed back outside to see Sycamore waiting with a few other campers, waiting for everyone to finish packing and to come outside, which everyone was a few minutes later.

"Okay, we're going to have lunch, then we're going to do the award ceremony," Sycamore told everyone before leading them to the caféteria, which is where they stayed for an hour while Sycamore and his assistant went to sort out the medals and actually figure out who deserved what.

* * *

When the hour was up, Sycamore came back to get everyone, taking them outside and to the edge of the field, telling them all to sit down there while they all went through the award ceremony.

"So," Sycamore started. "First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for attending my Summer camp. It's been a blast having you all here, and I'd like to see you all again at some point, whether it's for the next Summer camp, or if you're coming to see me for a starter Pokémon. I understand that some of you may be going on a journey through Kalos soon, and if so, I wish you the best of luck."

Everyone applauded Sycamore's words, who smiled at them in gratitude. "Right!" He exclaimed. "Let's get to the awards, shall we?"

* * *

 **There we go! Another chapter! As you may be able to gather, I decided not to have any real activity on the last day. Mainly because I couldn't think of something that would work. Some of you might be screaming at your computers or phones right now, trying to tell me that I could've done a Pokemon performance or contest, or something, but, remember, hardly anyone had Pokémon; just ten of them. So, unless I used the same people, which could've possibly worked, I guess, I wouldn't have been able to do it. And I can't do a performance because that's girls only, at least, according to the animé, but, again, there were only about four girls with Pokémon. Again, contests are an option, but I haven't watched the Hoenn or Sinnoh series', so I don't know how they work. Anyway, enough of that, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! It's not long after I posted the last one. In fact, I'm writing this directly after posting the last chapter. Yes, that is the exact same thing that started off the last chapter. Anyway, let's get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

"So," Sycamore started, holding up a list of names. "First off, we have the award for teamwork, and this goes to Michelle!"

The crowd applauded as a girl called Michelle stood up, smiling widely before gratefully accepting the award, shaking Sycamore's hand and going to sit back down, admiring the award resting in her hands.

"Next, we have the award for best Pokémon battle, and, of course, we had to decide who earns this when we did the battling activities. But, anyway, this goes to David!"

David headed up and accepting the award, like Michelle, he was smiling as he shook Sycamore's hand before heading back to sit down.

The same thing followed for a while, a few more awards were given out before...

"The award for most athletic goes to Ash!"

Ash stood up, honestly, he wasn't surprised. He was the only one to complete every single obstacle course and, not only that, he was the only camper to even attempt the last one!

"Well done, Ash," Sycamore said as Ash approached, grabbing Ash's hand and shaking it while patting him on the shoulder, handing him the award medal when he let go.

Ash headed back to sit down next to Clemont, Bonnie and Serena, who congratulated him despite, like Ash, not being surprised at all.

"Now, the award for most useful camper goes to Serena!"

Taken aback a little, Serena stood up and headed over to the front, shaking Sycamore's hand before accepting the award. "Why am I getting this?" She asked Sycamore when she took the medal.

"Without you, I highly doubt that we would've been able to see everyone race on a Rhyhorn, or even learn how to ride one! You made the process so much faster!" Sycamore explained, Serena agreeing with him as it was very true.

Serena nodded at him before heading to sit down again with her friends, a smile etched on her face the whole time.

* * *

The award ceremony finished half an hour later, with at least half of the campers holding awards. At that moment, everyone was waiting while Sycamore and his assistant set up the camera for the photo.

Serena sighed, shaking Ash's arm to get his attention, which he gave her immediately. "Yeah?" Ash asked, wondering what she wanted.

"I just can't believe that our time together is almost over!" Serena exclaimed, donning a sad look on her face.

Ash smiled a little before placing his hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. "Don't worry, Serena. We've got another hour here, maybe a little less than that. Then, after that, we have the rest of today, and I'll be heading back to Kanto in the morning, and in a month or so, I'll be back for our journey!"

Serena smiled, realising that Ash was right. "Yeah, we have some time," Serena muttered, placing her hand on top of Ash's hand which rested on her shoulder, smiling at him.

The two of them paid no attention to the few campers who were whispering to each other while watching Ash and Serena having their little moment, but everything was short-lived as Sycamore came over to announce that everything was set up.

All of the campers followed Sycamore over to the camera, ready to take the picture; the last activity of the Summer camp.

"Okay, so I'd like the tallest at the back and the shortest at the front," Sycamore told everyone. "Pretty much, if you're shorter than everyone at the back then you go in front of them, and if you're taller than everyone in the front, go behind them. Just make sure that the camera can see your face!"

Everyone arranged themselves in order, making sure that they weren't blocking the person behind them as they posed. Everyone who had earned an award had it held up next to their face to show the camera that they are great at something.

"Okay, I've set the camera up with a timer of ten seconds, so as soon as I press the button, I'm going to sprint around you all in order to get to the back, so be prepared to catch me if I fall!" Sycamore told everyone, causing some people to laugh.

Sycamore pressed the button to take the picture before sprinting over to the back of the crowd, luckily not falling over. He pulled a pose and a few seconds later the picture was taken.

"Okay, there we go!" Sycamore exclaimed, leaving his position at the back and heading over to the camera and turning it off, taking the SD card out of it. "I'm going to print off forty copies of that picture and frame them all. You'll all be given one in about half an hour, so, until then, go and relax. Say farewell to your peers as the camp ends in forty minutes."

Everyone dispersed from their positions and headed back to their cabins to relax a little and make sure they had packed everything.

"So," Ash started, looking over at Serena, Clemont and Bonnie as the four of them made their way back to the cabin. "I guess this is going to be the last time we see each other for a little while."

"Or forever," Serena added with a sad tone, looking at both Clemont and Bonnie with tears in her eyes.

"We'll meet again!" Clemont said, reassuring both Ash and Serena, maybe even himself.

"Yeah! And I'll make sure it won't be too long before we do!" Bonnie exclaimed, smiling despite the situation.

"That will be nice," Ash muttered, nodding at the two of them before they all entered the cabin to relax a little.

* * *

"May everyone come here? The camp is over! Gather your things and come outside!"

Those were Sycamore's words, alerting everyone that time was up.

Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie grabbed their things and headed outside, Pikachu resting on Ash's head as they, like all the other campers, headed over to where Sycamore was.

"It's been a great pleasure having you all here!" Sycamore exclaimed when they all reached him. "My assistant will hand out the pictures now, and I have phoned everyone's parents or guardians to tell them to come and pick you up!"

Sycamore's assistant started handing out all the pictures to everyone as a few cars pulled up, inside were some of the parents to the campers.

"I hope to see you all again at some point!" Sycamore finished, heading off the podium and to Ash and Serena, who were stood in the middle of a fast-moving crowd of campers heading to their parents, ready to go home.

"So," Sycamore started as he reached the two of them. "I'm going to be staying here along with my assistant to pack everything up, but we have a driver in the minibus that brought us here. She's going to take you both back to Lumiose. Is that okay?" Sycamore asked the two of them who nodded in response. "Brilliant! They should be arriving in the next few minutes, so would both of you wait here? I believe she'll most likely arrive when everyone else is gone." And with that, Sycamore headed over to aid his assistant with packing everything away, leaving both Ash and Serena standing alone, waiting for the minibus to arrive and pick them both up.

Serena sighed, grabbing Ash's hand and squeezing it a little, smiling as she watched his face go from a neutral, slightly bored look to one of shock and confusion as he looked at her, causing her to giggle a little. "Sorry," she said nonchalantly. "I just like holding your hand."

Ash smiled, chuckling a little. "Okay," he said, interlocking his fingers with hers. "Honestly, I like it too."

The two of them stood there in awkward silence for a moment before Ash got an idea. "I know!" He exclaimed out of nowhere, startling Serena a little.

"Yeah?" She asked, confused.

"How about we both go out to dinner tonight? You know a special thing before I leave again?" Ash asked Serena, causing her to blush profusely.

"Y-Yeah!" Serena exclaimed, incredibly fast. "L-Like a date?"

"Well," Ash started, trying to think of the right words. "Not like a romantic date, but more like dinner between really close friends?"

Serena nodded in understanding, slightly disappointed that Ash wasn't asking her out on a romantic where he'd possibly ask her to be his girlfriend, but she was still thrilled that they were going to go out for dinner together.

A few moments later, the minibus pulled up. The woman in the driver's seat rolled down the window, revealing an attractive, petite girl with light-pink hair reaching a little below her shoulders.

She opened the door and hopped out, showing both Ash and Serena that she was quite short, maybe five-foot and six inches? A little less than that, maybe?

"Hey," she greeted them, a slightly nervous aura surrounding her.

"Hello," both Ash and Serena replied in unison, causing the girl to giggle.

"I'm Evie, I'm going to take you back to Lumiose," she said.

"Fine by me," Ash said, winking at her, causing the girl to giggle and blush.

"Before you try anything, I have a girlfriend," she told them before smiling at them both, who were both smiling back.

"I don't think I've ever met a lesbian before," Serena whispered to Ash who laughed a little.

"What are you laughing about, Cutie?" Evie asked Ash, causing him to blush and causing Serena to feel a little jealous.

"O-Oh, Serena was just saying that she hasn't met a lesbian before," Ash explained, causing Evie to giggle.

"Don't worry, I won't bite your cute boyfriend," Evie said to Serena, winking at her when she suggested the relationship, causing both Ash and Serena to blush. "Right," she said. "Get in!"

Ash got in first with Serena following, both of them sitting next to each other.

Evie hopped into the driver's seat and started the minibus, driving away from the camp while making small talk with both Ash and Serena as they made their way back to Lumiose.

* * *

 **There we go! The camp is over! There will be one more chapter for this story, and then it will be over. However, I have something big to announce at the end of the next chapter; the last one. Oh, by the way, in case you're wondering why this chapter was a bit longer, it was only because I wanted some extra details in this chapter and because I wanted it to be longer in general. Anyway, leave a review with anything you want in it, as I will approve. Yes, even 'hate.' It's merely constructive criticism, so I'll be happy to hear about what I need to improve. BYE!**


	22. Chapter 22 The end

**Hey, guys! I'm back again with another chapter! It's not long after I posted the last one. In fact, I'm writing this directly after posting the last chapter. Yes, that is the exact same thing that started off the last chapter. Anyway, let's get straight to the chapter!**

* * *

"So," Evie started, looking at Ash and Serena through the wing mirror. "Why did you wink at me before, Ash? Wait, is that your name?"

Ash chuckled, nodding. "I just thought you were cute, or something. I don't know."

Serena felt a little jealous again, silently wishing that Evie was wearing a mask and that, in reality, she was the ugliest thing ever.

* * *

The next hour was filled with random conversation, both Ash and Evie getting along really well, occasionally subtly flirting with each other, causing Serena to feel a little jealous.

"Well, it was fun, you two!" Evie said as both Ash and Serena got out of the minibus. "And you too, Pikachu!"

"Yeah," Ash muttered as he slid out, Serena following close behind him.

"Hey!" Evie exclaimed rather suddenly. "I-I want to give you my number!"

Ash looked at her, shocked before he slowly nodded, pulling out his phone and walking over to her as she got out the minibus.

"Why do you want to give him your number?" Serena asked her, getting a mixture of jealous and worried.

"He's nice to me, and you are too! But, honestly, I only need one of your numbers, you know, then I can get yours later if Ashy- I mean if Ash sends it to me." Evie explained, getting a little embarrassed at the end, something that both Ash and Serena took note of.

"O-Okay," Serena stuttered as she watched them finish off.

"Right, so I'll just quickly text you to make sure it's correct," Ash told Evie before sending her the letter 'y' for testing's sake. "Let's just hope I did get it right, and a random person didn't just receive a message with a single, random letter."

Both Evie and Serena giggled a little before looking at each other, almost threateningly.

A ding sounded from Evie's phone, signalling with a thumbs-up that she had received the message and Ash had copied the number correctly.

"Well, we can talk later?" Ash asked her, to which Evie nodded before waving at both Ash and Serena, hopping back into the minibus and driving away.

"I don't trust her completely," Serena muttered, causing Ash to look at her.

"What?" Ash asked. "Why?"

"She's flirting with you!" Serena exclaimed, to which Ash looked confused.

"And?"

Serena blushed, realising that, to Ash, at least, it didn't matter. He wasn't in a relationship, so it's not a bad thing if someone starts flirting with him. "I-It doesn't matter," Serena said abruptly. "It's just that we met her today, and she's trying to make a move on you. It just seems a little creepy."

Ash chuckled. "She's harmless!" Ash told her, watching the minibus drive off in the distance. "Anyway, what time is it?"

"Half-past-five," Serena told him, looking at her phone. "Why?"

"Just trying to figure out what we should do," Ash said before getting an idea. "Okay! If we go back to that hotel and check in for a night, we can drop our stuff off, change clothes, maybe shower and, after that, we can go out to dinner."

Serena nodded, telling Ash that it was a good idea, to which they both headed to the hotel.

* * *

Two hours later, both Ash and Serena left the hotel without Pikachu, briefly explaining to him that they wanted to go out alone, to which Pikachu nodded, understanding their wishes.

"So, where are we going?" Serena asked Ash who shrugged, looking around Rouge Plaza which is where they were at the time.

"What about that restaurant?" Ash asked, pointing at a restaurant by the name of Maison Fantastique.

"Yeah," Serena nodded, agreeing.

Ash grabbed Serena's arm and led her over to the restaurant, causing her to blush a little with the contact.

The two of them entered the restaurant to be greeted by a French waitress. "Ah, bonjour! What can I do for you?" She asked with a thick French accent.

"We'd like a table for two, please," Ash said, to which the waitress nodded before leading them over to a small table, gesturing for the two of them, to sit down.

"I'll leave for a minute to decide on what you want to order," the waitress told them, to which they both nodded before she walked away.

"This place is really nice, isn't it?" Serena asked Ash, to which he nodded, both of them looking around the room, glancing at the well-decorated walls and the other customers having a nice time.

"I like that the lights are dimmed," Ash said nonchalantly, Serena nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, it makes it so romantic," she said without thinking before noticing what she said, covering her mouth and blushing with Ash chuckling at her.

"Yeah, it does," Ash said, shooting a quick wink at her playfully, making her blush more.

"So," Ash muttered, opening the menu and looking over the options. "What are you having?"

Serena shrugged, also looking over the menu before deciding on spaghetti. "What are you having, Ashy?"

Ash looked up at her, confused. "Ashy?"

"Well," Serena said, blushing. "That girl called you that, and I think it's cute... Like you."

Ash smiled at her, chuckling a little with a faint blush on his face. "Serena, I'm not cute."

"Yes, you are!"

"No," Ash said. "I'm damn-right fabulous!"

Serena giggled at him, placing her hand on top of his, smiling at him.

A few moments of silence passed between the two of them, both Ash and Serena looking at each other.

"I-I think I'll have spaghetti too," Ash said, quickly, pulling his hand out from under Serena's, closing the menu and placing it on top of Serena's.

The waiter headed back over to Ash and Serena as Serena retracted her hand in embarrassment, placing it on her lap.

"What would you two like?" The waitress asked them both, opening her notepad and clicking her pen.

"We'll both have spaghetti, please," Serena said, watching as the waitress wrote that down.

"Any drinks?" She asked them, to which Ash nodded. "I'll have some red wine, please."

"Oh?" The waitress asked, confused. "You don't look a day over seventeen."

"I'm eighteen," Ash told her, pulling out his wallet and showing her his I.D.

"Oh, so you are," the waitress said, nonchalantly. "I'm guessing your girlfriend is too?"

"Yeah," Ash replied, not caring that he just told the waitress that the two of them were dating, even though they weren't.

"Yeah, I am. And I'll have some red wine too," Serena told her, to which the waitress nodded and wrote that down.

"Okay, I'll go and tell the chef," the waitress told them before leaving.

"I don't believe that she couldn't tell I'm over eighteen," Ash muttered, looking at Serena. "I have stubble!"

"I had stubble when I was two," Serena told him, confusing Ash.

"What?" He asked, causing Serena to laugh.

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm joking," Serena explained, watching as Ash nodded in relief. "I first got it when I was three," she said, laughing again, causing Ash to laugh too.

"Yeah, that's better," he said through his laughter.

A few moments of silence passed between the two of them, neither of them knowing what to say, they just looked around a little and occasionally glanced at each other.

Their silence was broken by the waitress returning, handing them both an empty wine glass and placing the bottle on the table, smiling at both of them before walking away.

"So," Ash said, reaching out to the bottle and pouring some wine into Serena's glass, then the same amount into his own glass. "How have you actually been since you left Kanto?" Ash asked her, to which Serena smiled a little, picking up her glass and sipping the alcoholic substance.

"I've been good, thanks. Mum chose the best house ever, with a massive garden at the back and enough room at the front for our Rhyhorn to stay in its pen," Serena told him, watching as Ash took a sip of his wine and checked to see if the waitress was coming out of the kitchen with their food, which she wasn't.

"Nice," Ash muttered, looking back over to Serena. "What about school?"

"Oh, school..." Serena said, getting quieter towards the end.

"Are you alright?" Ash asked, getting a little concerned as he placed his hand on top of hers, not really thinking about what he was doing, just acting in a way that he thought would make her feel better.

"I-I'm fine!" Serena said abruptly, blushing at the contact, yet turning her hand over and squeezing Ash's. "Um, my school was horrible, honestly. It was really big, the classrooms stunk and they had no ventilation systems or air conditioning!"

Ash let out a breath slowly. "That sounds rough."

"Yeah, and it was a school that worked as a primary school and a high school at the same time, so I had to deal with every year, from year one to eleven!" Serena sighed, not being fond of the fact that she was remembering. "I didn't get in a relationship either! I've never been in one."

"Oh, me neither!" Ash told her, surprising Serena.

"Really? You?"

"Yeah."

"That's insane! You're so cute, and smart, and funny, a-" Serena said, cutting herself off quickly when she realised what she was saying.

Ash blushed at her words, smiling as he squeezed Serena's hand a little.

"Ah, the waitress is coming back," Serena said, pulling her hand out from under Ash's as she approached with their food.

"Here you go," she said, placing the food in front of them before giving a little curtsey. "Enjoy your meal!" And with that, she walked off.

Both Ash and Serena tucked in, making sure to not eat way too fast and look like slobs. Occasionally making small talk and sipping their wine.

* * *

Eventually, the two of them had finished. Ash paid for the meal and then they both left, heading back to the hotel.

"It's kind of cold," Ash muttered, looking over at Serena to see that she was shivering a little. "Here," Ash said, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him.

Serena blushed, but, nonetheless, wrapped her arms around Ash's chest, resting her head on the side of Ash's shoulder, looking in the direction they were both going.

"Ash," Serena started, looking up at him for a moment.

"Yeah?" Ash replied, wondering what she was going to say.

"Can we sleep together again tonight?" Serena asked, looking back up at him and giving him the cutest look she could muster.

Ash chuckled a bit, resisting the urge to kiss her as he nodded, causing Serena to squeal in delight and squeeze him tighter.

"We're nearly there, Serena!" Ash told her, to which she looked over and saw the hotel across the road.

The two of them hurried across before going in, ignoring the receptionist who was a little shocked to see them that close together. Both of them went up the stairs as they couldn't be bothered to wait for the lift.

"Shall we go to bed now?" Serena asked Ash when they got in the room, pushing him onto the bed playfully.

"Yeah, we can," Ash said, pulling off his shirt and trousers before hopping into the bed.

"How did you do that without being embarrassed?" Serena asked Ash, giggling at him when he shrugged, attempting to look as cute as possible to her.

"Let's just say that I'm excited to sleep with you again," Ash told her, making her giggle and blush before she pulled off her tank top and skirt, embarrassed but wanting to get in bed with Ash as quick as possible.

"I just want to say that you look so cute in your underwear," Ash told her, to which Serena blushed, literally jumping on top of Ash and pinning him down.

"Don't say that again, Ashy," Serena said in a mock-threating voice.

"Oh, why?" Ash asked, pretending to be scared.

"Because otherwise, I'm going to slap you so hard you're going to come out of this bed and go through the ceiling!"

Ash laughed at that, as did Serena. Serena adjusted herself until she was under the covers, her head on Ash's shoulder, facing him.

"Ashy, can I tell you something?" Serena asked Ash who laughed and nodded.

"What is it?" Ash questioned, having no idea what she was going to ask.

"I think you'd be a perfect boyfriend," she said, nuzzling her head into the side of Ash's face.

"W-What?" Ash asked, stuttering.

"For anyone," Serena said, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling more. "You'd be a perfect boyfriend."

Ash smirked, gaining the best idea of what to say. "So, even for you?"

Serena blushed, shrugging. "I don't know," she muttered. "I mean, you'd be great, but I'm not looking for a relationship, right now, at least," Serena told him, lying, but feeling bad when she saw Ash seem to get a little disappointed.

"Well, we should go to sleep," Ash muttered, turning over and turning off the light, pushing Serena off him, much to her disdain.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him onto his back.

"What?" Ash asked, wondering why she was getting annoyed.

"I wanna sleep on top of you," she said, Ash sighing as a response.

"Fine," he said as if it were a pain sleep like that.

"Thank you," Serena said, kissing him on the cheek lightly before resting her head on Ash's chest.

"Why did you kiss me?" Ash asked her, to which Serena giggled before looking up at him.

"Don't think about it too much," she said before resting her head on his chest again.

* * *

The next morning, the two of them rose out of bed, quickly getting dressed and packing up their things before heading to the airport so Ash could go back to Kanto.

"What time is your flight?" Serena asked him as they entered the airport.

"It's boarding at half-past-eleven."

"Well, it's nine now, so you have enough time to get some food and get through security," Serena told him, to which Ash nodded.

"Well," Ash started. "We'll get through security first, and then get food if we have time."

Serena nodded at that, knowing that it was a better option than risking it.

* * *

As soon as they got through security and had been searched, both Ash and Serena sat down and talked to each other for a good twenty minutes before they went into a shop an grabbed some breakfast bars for the two of them to eat, as there were only ten minutes left before the flight would start boarding at the time.

"These are actually really tasty," Ash muttered as he finished off the bar, Serena finishing off hers too.

Serena nodded in agreement, looking at the time to see that there were five minutes left.

"Ash, you should get to the gate," Serena said, starting to feel a little sad.

"Yeah," Ash said, agreeing. "But, first, Serena. I need to tell you something."

"Oh?" Serena asked confused.

Ash sighed. "I've thought about this for a while, and I've figured out what I want to say."

Serena nodded, confirming that she was listening.

"Serena... I'm in love with you!" Ash said, surprising Serena as she didn't expect him to say anything like that. "I fell for you when I first saw you. Back when I helped you at Oak's camp."

Serena was speechless, unable to process the situation. "Ash, I don't know what to say!" Serena exclaimed before pulling Ash into a hug. "I love you too," she said, not being able to think of anything else to say.

"Y-You do?" Ash asked, a little shocked.

"Of course!" Serena said, pulling away from Ash and looking at him in the eyes.

"Can I- Can I kiss you?" Ash asked her, to which Serena blushed and giggled.

"It's what I've wanted you to do for ten years," Serena said, leaning towards him.

"I love you, Serena," Ash told her.

"I love you too, Ash," Serena responded.

That was when it happened. The two of them leaned in together, meeting in the middle with a long, passionate kiss. They stayed like that for a good twenty seconds, neither of them wanting to pull away. But the need for oxygen overtook the wish to not part, therefore, they both pulled away simultaneously.

"I better go," Ash said, grabbing Serena's hand.

"Okay," Serena replied, not wanting Ash to leave.

"I'll keep in contact over the next month and I'll tell you when I'm coming back," Ash told her, to which Serena nodded.

"You better come back," she said, in a mock-threatening voice. "I want to spend more time with you!"

"I will come back," Ash said, reassuring her. "I don't want to leave my beautiful girlfriend waiting."

Serena blushed a little. "I'm your girlfriend?"

"If you want to be, that is," Ash told her, secretly hoping she would say yes.

"Of course I want to be!" Serena exclaimed, pulling Ash back into another hug. "Goodbye, Ashy!"

"Goodbye, Serena," Ash said, kissing her again for a few seconds before pulling back, heading to the plane with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Was that a good way to confess to her, buddy?" Ash asked him, to which his little, yellow mouse nodded, saying his name a few times with a thumbs-up, telling Ash that he thought it was perfect. "You were the only one who knew, did you know that?"

Pikachu nodded, telling Ash that even if he did tell someone else, he would know, seeing as they were almost together all the time.

Ash laughed. "You're right, buddy."

And with that, the two of them boarded the plane, taking a seat and looking out of the window at the airport. He didn't know how, but Ash could tell that Serena was looking at the plane through a window. He never saw her, and she never saw him, but they both knew that they were staring at each other.

"You know, Pikachu," Ash said, getting the mouses attention. "I'm happy I fell for that girl."

Ash looked over at Pikachu, giving him a quick smile before looking back at the airport. One thing he would never regret was confessing to her; the girl he fell for all those years ago.

* * *

 **Wow! Three-thousand words! That's how long this chapter was. If you're wondering why it's because I wanted to get a lot of details into the last chapter, obviously with the whole plot, and I didn't want this story to go on for too long seeing as I'm going to start writing a sequel soon. Yes! You read that correctly! A sequel! I don't want to make more chapters for this story, seeing as I'll be picking up around the end of the month Ash is spending in Kanto, so, if that's just the next chapter, then it will be confusing. Anyway, that story will be called 'Longtime coming,' so make sure to look out for the first chapter of that. The best way to do that will be to follow my profile so you're alerted as to when I post a new chapter or story. Anyway, aside from that, I want to thank you all for supporting this story. I had a blast writing it, and after around four months, it's finally finished. I will continue to create stories, and I hope that you will continue to read them. That's it for now, so I will see you soon with the sequel! BYE!**


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